Ugandan biotechnology firm Dei BioPharma has submitted seven patent applications to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering messenger RNA (mRNA) cancer vaccine technologies.
The applications, lodged between 18 and 25 August and listing company founder Dr Matthias Magoola as inventor, focus on potential vaccine strategies that target specific molecular changes linked to various cancers.
According to the company, the filings form part of a modular programme designed to create cancer immunotherapies matched to patients according to the molecular features of their tumours, rather than relying solely on the organ of origin.
Dei BioPharma explained that the approach uses pre-manufactured vaccine candidates directed at recurring molecular alterations present in defined groups of cancer patients.
In certain cases, patient selection would also consider human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type, which affects how immune cells recognise proteins displayed by cells.
“Our ambition is global and deliberately long-term: to develop a modular immune platform capable of addressing the molecular drivers behind an expanding share of human cancers,” Magoola said in a company statement.
“These filings are an effort to build, target by target, the scientific and manufacturing foundation that will make many cancers preventable and controllable or less likely to return.”
Seven cancer targetsThe seven applications address different molecular targets tied to particular cancer types.
These include a BCR-ABL fusion-junction target linked to fusion-positive leukaemia and an EGFRvIII deletion-junction target relevant to certain glioma subgroups.Additional applications cover NPM1 in molecularly defined acute myeloid leukaemia, a multiplex RAS hotspot design aimed at RAS-mutant tumours across multiple organs, and a TP53 R175H target.
The portfolio further includes sequence-attenuated HPV16/18 constructs intended for cancers driven by human papillomavirus, as well as an omnibus platform architecture designed to support the development of multiple target-specific products.
The company stated that its target-selection strategy centres on identifying molecular alterations that recur within defined patient groups, are absent from essential normal tissue, and are naturally presented by tumour cells.
Magoola has previously co-authored peer-reviewed research outlining criteria for assessing potential cancer-vaccine targets.
These latest filings expand Dei BioPharma’s intellectual-property portfolio in the United States.
The company reports that Magoola has filed more than 100 patent applications with the USPTO, of which around 70 have been published to date.
The portfolio already includes earlier applications related to a universal mRNA cancer-vaccine platform and other immunotherapy technologies.
Dei BioPharma also noted that the US Food and Drug Administration issued preliminary comments in July on PSI-033, a proposed biosimilar to the cancer medicine Yervoy.Founded by Magoola in 2014, the company runs a manufacturing facility at Matugga in Wakiso District, near Kampala.
The plant was inaugurated in 2021 and is intended to produce vaccines, biologics, biosimilars and mRNA-based therapeutics for African and international markets.
In 2024, Dei BioPharma received a licence from Uganda’s National Drug Authority to manufacture a range of medicines.
The firm says its wider goal is to develop and produce biological medicines at lower cost, especially for populations with limited access to such treatments.
The company plans to prioritise the proposed vaccine candidates based on factors including the prevalence of each molecular target, biological validation, unmet medical need, manufacturability and the practicality of conducting clinical trials.
It expressed particular interest in applications involving minimal residual disease and the prevention of cancer recurrence.
The patent filings mark an early stage in the development process.
Patent applications alone do not demonstrate that a vaccine is safe, effective or approved for clinical use; further laboratory, regulatory and clinical evaluation would be required before any candidate could become an approved treatment.
