APVAC

APVAC refers to a class of actively personalized peptide vaccines developed for the treatment of glioblastoma. The approach includes two types of vaccines: - **APVAC1** consists of tumor-associated peptides that are commonly overexpressed in glioblastoma tissue (shared antigens), selected from a pre-synthesized "peptide warehouse" based on each patient's tumor and immune profile. - **APVAC2** comprises neoantigenic peptides unique to an individual patient’s tumor, synthesized de novo after mutational analysis. These peptides often bear tumor-specific mutations and are not present in healthy tissue. Both vaccine types are designed to stimulate the host immune system—specifically cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses—against glioblastoma cells by presenting relevant peptide antigens via MHC molecules. The process involves intradermal injection of the personalized vaccine product, often combined with adjuvants such as GM-CSF and poly-ICLC to enhance immunogenicity. The development was led by Immatics Biotechnologies in collaboration with BioNTech and academic partners under the GAPVAC consortium[1][4][8].