Researchers from the Jiang Group in the Department of Oncology have published Phase Ia clinical trial results for OVM-200, a novel cancer vaccine targeting survivin. The first-in-human trial, published in eClinicalMedicine, reports promising early safety and immunogenicity findings in patients with advanced solid tumours.
OVM-200 is an investigational cancer vaccine being studied in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer. The vaccine targets survivin, a tumour-associated antigen that is overexpressed in approximately 90% of human cancers. Survivin is a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family and is associated with tumour progression, treatment resistance, and poor prognosis, making it an attractive target for cancer immunotherapy.
Despite its therapeutic appeal, survivin has proven challenging to exploit clinically. As a self-derived tumour-associated antigen, survivin exhibits weak immunogenicity and is subject to immune tolerance, and previous efforts to develop survivin-based vaccines have shown limited success.
OVM-200 was designed to overcome these limitations. It is a recombinant overlapping peptide (ROP) survivin vaccine, in which the full-length survivin protein is expressed as a series of overlapping peptides linked by a cathepsin S cleavage motif (LRMK). This ROP design facilitates efficient intracellular processing by antigen-presenting cells and enhances presentation of multiple survivin epitopes on both MHC class I and class II molecules, broadening CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell recognition independent of HLA type.
© Oxford VacmedixDual mechanism of action of the recombinant overlapping peptides (ROP) approach. OVM-200 consists of overlapping peptides linked by the target sequence for cathepsin S, preserving T-cell and most antibody epitopes. OVM-200 elicits both cellular and humoral immune responses against survivin-expressing cancer cells. Credit: Oxford Vacmedix.
Preclinical studies demonstrated that vaccination with the survivin ROP induced robust CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell responses and prolonged survival compared with native survivin protein in a survivin-expressing melanoma mouse model. Clinical studies are now underway to evaluate the safety and performance of OVM-200.
Findings from the multicentre, open-label, Phase Ia trial were recently published in eClinicalMedicine. The first-in-human trial enrolled patients with advanced solid tumours, including non-small cell lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer, who had progressed on standard therapies. The primary objective of the trial was to assess safety and tolerability, with secondary objectives evaluating immunogenicity and exploratory clinical activity.
OVM-200 was well tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities or serious adverse drug reactions reported. Adverse events were limited to mild injection-site reactions. The vaccine induced strong antibody responses and measurable T-cell immunity, with early signals of disease stabilisation observed in a subset of patients. Based on these results, the 2000μg dose, the highest of the four dose levels tested, was selected for further evaluation, and Phase Ib is currently ongoing to further assess safety and efficacy at this dose level.
Compared with earlier survivin vaccines, the ROP-based vaccine has the potential to stimulate a broader immune response across diverse HLA haplotypes. Completion of the Phase Ia programme represents the first clinical validation of the ROP platform in humans and provides a strong foundation for further clinical development, including evaluation in later-phase trials and combination strategies with immuno-oncology agents.
OVM-200 originated in the Jiang Laboratory in the Department of Oncology, University of Oxford, and the clinical trial was conducted by the University spin-out company Oxford Vacmedix UK Ltd.
‘Survivin recombinant overlapping peptide (ROP) vaccine in advanced solid tumours: a first-in-human, multicentre, open-label, phase 1a dose-escalation study.’ was published in EClinicalMedicine on 2nd January 2026.