Measovir - Platform to Kill Cancer Cells and Activate Immune System
Oncovita’s MeasovirTM proprietary platform relies on a DNA plasmid vector that expresses a modified measles Schwarz virus antigenome able to generate recombinant viruses by using a clonal reverse genetics system. This versatile plug-and-play platform allows producing new viruses expressing very large amounts of additional genetic material.
MeasovirTM has been constructed by deletion of a viral factor which normally controls apoptosis of infected cells. Its increased capacity to induce immunogenic cancer cell death is linked to its strong RIG-I agonist activity (RIG-I is a cytoplasmic RNA receptor whose activation is critical for responsiveness to checkpoint blockade in cancer). MeasovirTM platform has been patented (granted in US and Europe for treatment of all types of cancers).
Unique specificity for cancer cells: MeasovirTM efficiently targets and destroys cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells unaffected (the image shows the specificity of infection of cancer cells with MeasovirTM expressing the green fluorescent protein). MeasovirTM takes advantage of the natural property of measles vaccine to specifically infect cancer cells and arrest their immune-blocking activity. This property is related to overexpression of CD46 at the surface of cancer cells, a complement inhibitor that helps tumor cell survival by protecting them from attacks by the complement system and NK cells. CD46 being a specific entry receptor of measles vaccine virus, its overexpression is an Achilles heel of cancer cells. This makes measles vaccine virus naturally oncolytic.
