Crédit Agricole supports the development of the UCPVax cancer vaccine
Crédit Agricole is supporting the clinical development of UCPVax*, a universal therapeutic cancer vaccine born of more than fifteen years of research conducted by the Besançon Franche-Comté University Hospital and the Marie and Louis Pasteur University.
As the first private sponsor of this major universal medical innovation, Crédit Agricole shares the common ambition of transforming scientific advances into concrete hope for patients. The €1.5 million donation will notably be used to finance the production of the active ingredient essential to the manufacture of the vaccine, the launch of new clinical trials and thus a decisive step forward in the clinical development of UCPVax.
With the mobilisation of 16 entities**, Crédit Agricole has chosen to support this leading French therapeutic innovation, which could open up new prospects for treatment in several cancers, including glioblastoma, human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers, lung cancer and liver cancer.
This financial support demonstrates the Group’s desire to make a tangible contribution to major public health challenges, by supporting innovations that offer hope to patients, their families and society as a whole.
* Created in Besançon in 2011 within the Inserm UMR RIGHT laboratory (EFS Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Marie and Louis Pasteur University), UCPVax is a therapeutic vaccine for cancer patients. UCPVax is currently being used in over twenty hospitals and cancer centres. The vaccine is produced and distributed by the Besançon University Hospital pharmacy, guaranteeing full control over the process and exemplary traceability.
Unlike preventive vaccines, it aims to mobilise the immune systems of already ill patients to help them recognise and destroy cancer cells.
Its singularity is based on the targeting of telomerase, an enzyme present in the vast majority of cancers and involved in the proliferation of tumour cells. This approach gives UCPVax a particularly broad application potential, justifying its designation as a universal therapeutic vaccine.
** Crédit Agricole S.A., Crédit Agricole Assurances Foundation, Crédit Agricole Franche-Comté Foundation, Crédit Agricole du Nord Est Foundation, Crédit Agricole Atlantique Vendée, Crédit Agricole Alsace Vosges Foundation, Crédit Agricole Champagne-Bourgogne Foundation, Crédit Agricole d’Ile-de-France Foundation, Crédit Agricole Brie Picardie, Crédit Agricole Normandie-Seine, Crédit Agricole des Côtes d’Armor Foundation, Crédit Agricole Sud Méditerranée, Solidarités Crédit Agricole Centre-est Foundation, Crédit Agricole CIB Endowment Fund, Crédit Agricole Charente-Perigord Foundation, Crédit Agricole des Savoie.