In what seems like an unlikely collaboration, Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (Fred Hutch) is partnering with Amazon to develop cancer vaccines.
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In what seems like an unlikely collaboration, Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (Fred Hutch) is partnering with Amazon to develop cancer vaccines. Amazon has announced it is recruiting 20 people over the age of 18 for a Phase I trial. Fred Hutch is listed as a sponsor of the study, with Amazon as a collaborator.
The report, titled, “Personalized Neo-Antigen Peptide Vaccine for the Treatment of Stage IIIC-IV Melanoma or Hormone Receptor-Positive Her2 Negative Metastatic Refractory Breast Cancer,” was first posted on ClinicalTrials.gov in October 2021 and launched on June 9, 2022. It is expected to wrap up by Nov. 1, 2023. According to ClinicalTrials.gov, the vaccine combines multiple patient-specific neo-antigens.
“Given personalized neo-antigen peptide vaccine together with Th1 polarizing adjuvant poly ICLC may induce a polyclonal, poly-epitope, cytolytic T cell immunity against the patient’s tumor,” the collaborators state.
A neoantigen is a new protein that cancer cells create when certain mutations occur but are unique to the cancer cells and do not appear on normal cells. Poly-ICLC is a toll-like receptor-3 agonist capable of activating immune cells.
“Amazon is contributing scientific and machine learning expertise to a partnership with Fred Hutch to explore the development of a personalized treatment for certain forms of cancer,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. “It’s very early, but Fred Hutch recently received permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to proceed with a Phase I clinical trial, and it’s unclear whether it will be successful. This will be a long, multi-year process - should it progress, we would be open to working with other organizations in healthcare and life sciences that might also be interested in similar efforts.”
The vaccine possibly comes out of Amazon’s secretive Grand Challenge, which involves cancer research, medical records and last-mile delivery. The group has operated under several different names, including 1492 and Amazon X.
It bears echoes of Google/Alphabet’s X, an experimental research laboratory. Google/Alphabet has also made forays into the life sciences, with Google X’s Life Sciences and Calico, the latter of which focuses on human longevity. “Life Sciences” is notoriously secretive, but in the past, the company was working on a type of smart contact lens to monitor blood sugar in the wearer. It also has a 10-year collaboration pact with AbbVie to study age-related diseases and a collaboration with Alcon Laboratories, a division of Novartis.
Five years ago, Apple was reported to be dabbling in the life sciences as well, working to develop sensors to monitor blood sugar levels. Apple has also been actively involved in clinical trials involving its Apple Watch and the iPhone for health tracking.
A Budding Partnership with Crossover Players
“The Fred Hutch has been fortunate to have long-term partnerships with Amazon, Microsoft and other innovative technology companies,” Matt McIlwain, managing director of Seattle’s Madrona Venture Group and a member of the Fred Hutch advisory board, told GeekWire.
The two organizations have partnered on other projects, from Amazon’s sponsoring the Fred Hutch Obliteride charity bicycle event to working on AWS [Amazon Web Services] such as Medical Comprehend, a natural language process service meant to pull information from text in documents.
McIlwain added, “The Fred Hutch relationship with Amazon and AWS deepened the past several years with the board involvement of Mike Clayville and Sean Boyle as well as many other Amazon current and former employees.”
Boyle is on The Fred Hutch board of directors. He was formerly Amazon’s vice president of finance. Clayville was previously vice president of worldwide field operations at AWS.
Amazon has increased its presence in healthcare in recent years, acquiring online pharmacy PillPack in 2019. During the pandemic, it released a COVID-19 test available via its website. Amazon Pharmacy launched in 2020. Amazon Care is Amazon’s primary care telehealth business, which claims you can “access a clinician 24/7, 465 days a year. No more waiting rooms, no more travel time.”
McIlwain believes the two organizations are likely to collaborate more often, particularly with AWS helping Fred Hutch analyze large datasets. “As Amazon has become more involved with health care and the Hutch continues to lead in innovative cancer treatments and cures, partnerships like the cancer vaccine clinical trials referenced this week are likely to expand.”
