
GREGORY FRIEDMAN, MD
University of Alabama at Birmingham
in collaboration with Avidea Technologies, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s and Boston Children’s Hospital, University of Cambridge, Northwestern University, Lurie Children’s Hospital and Treovir, LLC
CureSearch Acceleration Initiative Award: 2022-2025
Focus: Pediatric High-Grade Glioma
Project title: Overcoming the Adverse Microenvironment of Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas
Outcomes for pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) range from less than 25% to essentially 0%, in the case of diffuse midline gliomas (DMGs), and these dismal survival rates have not improved in 30 years. Safe, effective immunotherapies for pediatric high-grade glioma (pHGG) including diffuse midline glioma (DMG) have eluded investigators and represent a significant unmet need.
Gregory Friedman, MD, is a CureSearch Acceleration Initiative Award recipient conducting research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He and his colleagues are currently conducting a phase I clinical trial in pediatric high-grade glioma and have demonstrated that their oncolytic virus, G207, is safe with very promising efficacy. An oncolytic virus is a virus that is specifically able to enter and destroy cancer cells. Based on the results of the phase I trial, G207 was awarded FDA Fast Track Designation, and Dr. Friedman is developing a multi-institutional Phase 2 trial. While he continues to advance G207 clinically, Dr. Friedman’s goal is to maximize G207’s therapeutic benefit for future clinical trials. In this project, Dr. Friedman will be assessing a combination immunotherapy that he and his colleagues hypothesize will result in a stronger and sustained response to G207 resulting in lasting anti-tumor response. Dr. Freidman will assess combination of G207 with a highly innovative vaccine platform developed by his public-private collaborating partner, Avidea Technologies. In initial proof-of-principle preclinical mouse studies, vaccination prior to G207 treatment significantly enhanced efficacy compared to either therapy alone. The goal of this AI award will be to develop a protocol and obtain regulatory approvals for a Phase 1 clinical trial of the Avidea vaccine (SNAPvax) and G207.
Thank you, Rally Foundation for Childhood Cancer Research for supporting this innovative project.
Project Update: The team has identified additional antigens to target and is developing those vaccines. Working with their industry partner Vaccitech, Dr. Friedman has developed a flowchart for advancing to a clinical trial, and they are beginning to formulate a clinical protocol.