From July 24th to 26th, the "T20+ Conference," guided by the China Food and Drug Enterprise Quality and Safety Promotion Association and hosted by Tongxieyi, was held in Suzhou. The conference, themed "Standing at the Forefront of Science and Technology, Seeking Breakthrough Forces," focused on innovation across the entire new drug R&D chain and addressed key issues in industrial upgrading.
Dr. Li Wei, SVP of NeoCura, was invited to attend the conference and delivered a keynote speech titled "Research Progress and Clinical Application of mRNA Tumor Vaccines" at the "mRNA Tumor Vaccines and siRNA Drug Development" sub-venue.
Innovative Mechanism Fills the Gap
Dr. Li Wei Delivers Keynote Speech
Dr. Li Wei Explores the Mechanism, R&D Progress, and Latest Breakthroughs of mRNA Cancer Vaccines in His Speech
Regarding the treatment dilemma for patients with positive minimal residual disease (MRD) proposed in the "Chinese Expert Consensus on Adaptive Treatment of Lung Cancer," Dr. Li Wei particularly emphasized the clinical application potential of mRNA tumor vaccines. Tumor neoantigen vaccines based on mRNA technology, with their unique immune activation mechanism and core advantage of inducing durable immune memory, offer an important potential treatment strategy for this group of patients urgently in need of new solutions, with the hope of filling the treatment gap in this field.Global Race, Broad Prospects
Thanks to the rapid breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, gene sequencing, and delivery technologies, mRNA tumor vaccines are ushering in unprecedented development opportunities. Currently, numerous research teams in China and abroad are actively advancing the development of mRNA tumor vaccines, with groundbreaking clinical trial data continuously rewriting the history of cancer treatment. mRNA-4157, a collaboration between Moderna and Merck, is one of the most advanced projects globally. Phase IIb clinical trials have shown that the combination of mRNA-4157 and pembrolizumab reduces the risk of recurrence and death by 49% in melanoma patients and decreases the risk of distant metastasis by 62%. A global Phase III clinical trial has been initiated.
BioNTech's personalized mRNA neoantigen vaccine BNT122 can sustainably reduce the risk of disease recurrence in patients with surgically resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). The risk of recurrence in vaccine-responsive patients is 86% lower than in non-responsive patients, and some patients' metastatic lesions completely disappeared after a booster vaccination. The vaccine is currently undergoing Phase II trials for various indications, including colorectal cancer, PDAC, and melanoma.
China's R&D efforts in this field are also accelerating. XH001, an mRNA personalized tumor neoantigen vaccine independently developed by NeoCura, has been approved by the CDE for clinical research to be used as an adjuvant treatment for high-risk recurrent solid tumor patients after radical surgery. Preclinical studies have shown that the vaccine can successfully activate the immune system, induce specific T cells, and exert a powerful killing effect on tumor cells.
AI Empowerment, Industrial Upgrade
Dr. Li Wei's Speech at the Scene
Dr. Li Wei mentioned that the clinical breakthrough of tumor vaccines in 2025 is exciting, but still faces the core technical bottleneck of neoantigen prediction accuracy. NeoCura has provided an AI solution through technical efforts, and its self-developed tumor neoantigen prediction system, NeoCura AI ALPINE, has increased the accuracy of neoantigen prediction to over 75%. By combining dry and wet lab experiments, it helps optimize and iterate the algorithm, continuously improving the precision of neoantigen prediction.Relying on a leading AI technology team, NeoCura has independently developed five scientific platforms empowered by algorithms, covering the entire R&D process from target discovery, sequence optimization to drug delivery, achieving a significant efficiency leap across the entire chain. Based on this, NeoCura is focused on building a closed-loop ecosystem for mRNA tumor vaccines centered on technological innovation, spanning R&D, production, and application, providing critical support for the upgrade of the tumor treatment industry towards intelligence, standardization, and internationalization.
As mRNA tumor vaccines accelerate from "concept validation" to "clinical popularization," the industry is placing higher demands on innovative entities with full-chain technical integration capabilities. NeoCura is continuously strengthening its self-developed system, accelerating industry-academia-research-medical collaborative innovation, and integrating advantageous resources to jointly promote the clinical transformation and commercial implementation of mRNA tumor vaccines, ensuring that innovative achievements truly benefit more cancer patients.'%20fill='%23FFFFFF'%3E%3Crect%20x='249'%20y='126'%20width='1'%20height='1'%3E%3C/rect%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/svg%3E)
More content, click "Read More" below!
NeoCura is a high-tech enterprise that builds an RNA technology platform and develops innovative drugs based on AI technology. The company has established a multi-omics big data collection platform and multiple bio-omics databases, utilizing AI and bioinformatics technologies for in-depth drug target discovery and fully automated drug design to upgrade its innovative RNA technology platform and advance drug research. It has set up leading R&D and production centers in Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, China, supporting pipeline development, platform upgrades, and clinical needs.
