Peptide vaccines — neoantigen vaccines, KRAS vaccines, multi-peptide cancer vaccines, and HLA-restricted peptide platforms — are one of the most active areas of late-stage oncology peptide work.
Lead programs covered on this site: ELI-002 amphiphile-peptide KRAS vaccine (AMPLIFY-201 Phase 3), autogene cevumeran from BioNTech and Genentech in pancreatic cancer, EVX-01 from Evaxion in melanoma, GP2 / GLSI-100 from Greenwich LifeSciences in HER2 breast cancer, ENA101 from Enara Bio, multipeptide vaccines from UCPVAX in glioblastoma, BioVaxys MVP-S (a five-peptide DPX-formulated survivin vaccine combined with pembrolizumab and cyclophosphamide in the PESCO Phase 1B/2 trial accepted for ASCO 2026 in recurrent ovarian cancer), and the Mel39 melanoma trial. Long-term survival data keeps mattering for the category.
Stories here cover trial readouts, AACR and ASCO presentations, and partnership announcements. See #neoantigen, #cancer-vaccine, and #immunotherapy for adjacent threads.
In the randomized Phase 2 DOVACC trial (NCT04742075) of 188 patients with BRCA wild-type recurrent ovarian cancer, adding UV1, a vaccine of three synthetic long peptides from the telomerase protein hTERT, to olaparib and durvalumab gave a median progression-free survival of 8.7 months vs. 5.9 months on olaparib alone (hazard ratio 0.83, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.01, P = .066), short of statistical significance. OncLive reported on November 9 on the results, presented at the ESMO Congress in October, including exploratory subgroups such as HRD-negative patients (HR 0.73) that would need confirmation.
Evaxion reported at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer meeting in Phoenix that its AI-designed EVX-01 vaccine, given with Merck's Keytruda in a 16-patient Phase 2 trial in advanced melanoma, produced neoantigen-specific T cells that could be detected directly ex vivo. CD4+ T cells dominated those responses, and CD8+ responses appeared in half of patients. The trial previously reported objective responses in 12 of 16 patients at two years, including four complete responses, but it had no comparison arm.
MIT Koch Institute researchers displayed tumor antigens on the coat protein of harmless M13 bacteriophage at densities from 6% to 70%, and mice given a 35%-density vaccine carrying the peptide SIINFEKL were much less likely to grow melanoma than mice given a 6% version, they reported in Advanced Healthcare Materials. A higher-density vaccine against the tumor neoantigen ADPGK also protected mice from colon tumors, and the phage DNA acted as its own adjuvant. The tests were preventive and in mice only.
Researchers at Henan University and MAXVAX Bio-tech reported in ACS Applied Bio Materials on October 28, 2026 a lipid nanoparticle with phenolic groups that holds HPV16 E6/E7 peptide antigens by hydrogen bonding, regardless of their charge, and binds manganese ions that act as an immune booster. The particles helped immune cells take up the antigens, switched on the STING pathway, and reached nearby lymph nodes after injection into muscle. In the TC-1 mouse tumor model they increased tumor-killing CD8 T cells and slowed tumor growth without visible toxicity; the work has not been tested in people.
Elicio Therapeutics presented full results of the randomized Phase 2 AMPLIFY-7P trial at ESMO 2026 in Madrid on October 23, 2026, with a simultaneous Nature Medicine paper, for camupepimut (ELI-002 7P), a vaccine of seven lymph-node-targeted mutant KRAS peptides plus an adjuvant, in 144 patients with KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer after standard treatment. Disease-free survival, the primary endpoint, was not significantly better than observation overall (hazard ratio 0.85), as the company reported in June; in the 93 patients without circulating tumor DNA at baseline, median disease-free survival was not reached versus 21.2 months (hazard ratio 0.51, nominal p=0.028), and 99% of evaluable treated patients had KRAS-specific T-cell responses. Grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred in 10.4% versus 14.6% on observation; more ctDNA-positive patients were in the vaccine arm, and Elicio plans to discuss a Phase 3 design with the FDA.
MimiVax and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center reported on October 7, 2026 that in SURVIVE, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b trial in 233 evaluable patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma at 11 U.S. centers, adding SurVaxM to standard treatment gave a median overall survival of 22.8 months versus 20.3 months on placebo (hazard ratio 0.75, p=0.076), short of statistical significance. In a prespecified group of patients 65 and under, median survival was 24.2 versus 20.2 months (hazard ratio 0.64, p=0.019), and about 42% versus 18% were alive at 30 months or later. SurVaxM is a peptide-mimic vaccine aimed at survivin, a protein found in about 95% of glioblastomas; grade 3 or higher side effects occurred in 48% versus 46% of patients, and MimiVax plans to ask the FDA about faster approval routes.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong and BayVax Biotech reported in Advanced Science on Friday, October 2, 2026 a vaccine platform called SaPAC that chemically links neoantigen peptides to the TLR7-activating adjuvant 1V209, so the conjugates assemble into nanoparticles of about 100 to 200 nm. In mice, the particles reached lymph nodes better than peptide nanoparticles mixed with free adjuvant, and SaPAC alone slowed tumor growth in melanoma and bladder cancer models. In a triple-negative breast cancer model, combining multivalent SaPAC with anti-PD-1 therapy gave durable tumor suppression comparable to a Poly(I:C)-adjuvanted benchmark without detectable systemic toxicity; all results come from mice.
Evaxion said on Friday, October 2, 2026 that it will present new immune data from its Phase 2 trial of EVX-01, a personalized, AI-designed peptide cancer vaccine given with Merck's Keytruda (pembrolizumab) to 16 patients with advanced melanoma, at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer meeting in Phoenix, with an oral presentation on November 6. Previously reported two-year results showed objective responses in 12 of 16 patients (75%), including four complete responses, and tumor-specific immune responses to 86% of the vaccine's neoantigen targets. Each patient receives a vaccine designed and manufactured from their own tumor's biology.
AC Immune reported on September 23, 2026 that Part 1 of VacSYn, a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 trial in early Parkinson's disease, met all of its primary safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity endpoints through week 100. Thirty-four patients were randomized 3:1 to ACI-7104 or placebo; the company said 100% of patients developed antibodies against the PD01 antigen after three immunizations, antibodies reached the cerebrospinal fluid in all patients, and the vaccine was generally safe and well tolerated. ACI-7104.056 uses an eight-amino-acid peptide that mimics a C-terminal alpha-synuclein epitope, conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin, according to Alzforum. AC Immune reported a CSF total alpha-synuclein signal consistent with target engagement but no clinical efficacy result, and plans FDA meetings in early 2027 before an expanded Phase 2.
The ASCO Annual Meeting closed June 2 after a week that moved peptide and targeted-conjugate oncology from abstract to podium: Bicycle's bicyclic peptide-drug conjugate and Avacta's FAP-activated conjugate in solid tumors, Mayo's folate-receptor and BioVaxys' survivin peptide vaccines, Sapience's C/EBPβ antagonist in glioblastoma, and PSMA and lead-212 radioligands from Telix and Perspective. Attention now shifts to ADA 2026 in New Orleans and the July 23-24 PCAC compounding vote.
Mayo's randomized Phase 2 trial across 11 sites tested low-dose (825 μg) against high-dose (2.5 mg) TPIV200, a multi-epitope folate-receptor-alpha peptide vaccine adjuvanted with GM-CSF, with or without cyclophosphamide pretreatment in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer. The low dose matched the full dose on immunogenicity, cyclophosphamide pretreatment had no impact, and vaccination induced persistent polyepitope immunity. Kathryn Ruddy, Keith Knutson, and Saranya Chumsri presented the data June 1.
BioVaxys presented results from the investigator-initiated PESCO trial of maveropepimut-S (MVP-S) combined with pembrolizumab and low-dose cyclophosphamide in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. MVP-S is a DPX-based vaccine built from five survivin-derived peptides plus a T-helper peptide and an innate immune stimulant, designed to drive a cytotoxic T-cell response against survivin, an antigen highly expressed in ovarian tumors but nearly absent in normal tissue.
Mayo Clinic researchers led by Dr. Kathryn Ruddy will present a randomized Phase 2 trial of the folate receptor alpha (FRα) peptide vaccine TPIV200 in early-stage triple-negative breast cancer at ASCO 2026 (Abstract 536, June 1, 1:30-4:30 PM CDT). The trial dosed 80 patients with vaccine; 58 were evaluable for immunogenicity. The TPIV200 multi-epitope FRα peptide vaccine was found safe and immunogenic using a single low-dose injection without cyclophosphamide priming. FRα is overexpressed on the cell surface in breast, ovarian, and lung cancers, making it a shared-antigen vaccine target distinct from personalized neoantigen approaches. The data supports combining TPIV200 with an immune checkpoint inhibitor to extend recurrence-free or progression-free survival in TNBC — the breast cancer subtype with the highest mortality risk and fewest targeted-therapy options. The vaccine adds to the peptide cancer vaccine cohort (BioVaxys MVP-S, Dana-Farber NeoVax, Greenwich GP2) at ASCO 2026.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers led by David Reardon (Director, Center for Neuro-Oncology) and Catherine Wu (Chief, Division of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapies) presented Phase 1 data at ASCO 2026 on NeoVax — a personalized neoantigen peptide vaccine — combined with pembrolizumab in newly diagnosed glioblastoma. The study excluded dexamethasone (an immune suppressant) and added pembrolizumab to enhance anti-tumor activity. Vaccine-stimulated anti-tumor activity was still evident in some patients after one year, with vaccine-specific T cells migrating into the brain and tumors following vaccination. The MGMT-methylated patient subgroup showed median survival meaningfully exceeding historical observations, though the authors emphasized this requires cautious interpretation given the lack of a randomized comparator arm. The timing of pembrolizumab administration didn't affect immune-response stimulation, but pembrolizumab-before-NeoVax-priming may extend overall survival. NeoVax adds to the personalized neoantigen vaccine cohort (BioNTech autogene cevumeran, Moderna intismeran autogene, Evaxion EVX-01) anchoring the broader peptide cancer vaccine field.
A review article published in the International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics in May 2026 consolidates the current state of peptide-based cancer vaccines, covering antigen selection, adjuvant chemistry, and delivery platforms designed to address tumor evolution and immune escape. The review argues that despite persistent challenges around peptide stability and limited immunogenicity, the combination of nanomaterials and adjuvants has significantly enhanced immune response efficiency and targeted delivery — with applications in drug-resistant and metastatic cancers. The piece sits alongside two other May peptide vaccine reviews (WIRES Nanomedicine, Science Advances) and frames the ASCO 2026 peptide-oncology slate (BioVaxys MVP-S, BriaCell Bria-IMT, Evaxion EVX-01) as the clinical pipeline backing the review-paper momentum.
A 2026 Science Advances paper demonstrated that systematically changing the orientation and placement of a single cancer-targeting peptide within a vaccine construct leads to formulations that significantly enhance immune response. One specific vaccine design consistently outperformed others by shrinking tumors, extending animal survival, and generating larger numbers of highly active cancer-killing T-cells. The work is mechanistically important for the broader personalized neoantigen vaccine pipeline (Mount Sinai PGV001, BioNTech autogene cevumeran, Evaxion EVX-01) because peptide-orientation engineering has been an under-systematized variable in current vaccine designs. The findings provide a generalizable engineering principle that could inform second-generation neoantigen vaccine constructs heading into late 2026 and 2027.
A WIRES Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology 2026 review by Garland and colleagues synthesizes the materials-science side of peptide-based cancer vaccine development: lipid nanoparticle delivery, dendrimer scaffolds, peptide self-assembly platforms, and adjuvant chemistry. The piece complements the broader review wave by focusing on delivery and formulation rather than antigen selection. Key themes: lipid-nanoparticle-encapsulated peptides show improved bioavailability and immune-cell uptake versus free peptides; self-assembling peptide hydrogels enable sustained antigen release at injection site; CpG and TLR agonist combinations remain the dominant adjuvant approach but with new variants emerging. The review positions peptide vaccines as catching up to mRNA cancer vaccines (BioNTech, Moderna programs) on delivery sophistication.
Pharmacy Times ran a Ferry Ossendorp Q&A on May 5 walking through the mechanistic case for peptide-based cancer vaccines: T cells recognize small peptides presented on the surface of tumor cells, and synthetic peptides matched to tumor antigens can be used to vaccinate the immune system to recognize and target those tumors. Ossendorp's own work showed that knowledge of a tumor's antigen profile combined with peptide vaccination can protect against very aggressive tumors in animal models. The piece sits inside a 2026 peptide-vaccine pipeline with 31 active personalized cancer-vaccine trials registered (more than dendritic-cell or RNA-vaccine platforms), the BioVaxys MVP-S survivin program heading to ASCO 2026, the Greenwich GP2/GLSI-100 FLAMINGO-01 readout, and the BriaCell Bria-IMT Phase 3.