The NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) is designed to fast-track the development of cancer vaccines, improving patient access to clinical trials of these potentially life-saving treatments. Thousands of patients across England, including those at University Hospital Southampton, are expected to join the trials.
Cancer vaccines aim to teach the body’s immune system to fight cancer and give it an immune “memory” to help prevent the cancer returning, similar to how a flu jab can protect you against the winter flu.
Through the CVLP, people with cancer who are receiving treatment in the NHS, including patients at University Hospital Southampton, can be assessed to see if they might be eligible to join a cancer vaccine clinical trial.
This collaboration, initially with pharmaceutical company BioNTech is a significant step towards realising the potential of these personalised vaccines in cancer treatment, in the hope of transforming patient outcomes in the future.
Dr Victoria Goss, Head of Early Diagnosis and Translational Research at the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit says “The first trial included in the CVLP is only for patients with a particular type of colorectal cancer, as that is what the vaccine is targeting. But as the programme expands, more vaccines targeting other cancer types will be brought on board, giving more patients the opportunity to take part.”
How will the Wessex SDE support the CVLP programme?
The challenge with a national research programme of this size is that we need to manage large amounts of data and share this between hospitals in a very secure way.
As the programme develops and we start to identify patients for more than one trial the SDE will allow us to securely bring together this information in one place.
All of this is powered by NHS data and will use the SDE to unlock the ability of this data to support the development of life-changing new treatments and cancer vaccines and will make the health and social care system more efficient, effective and safe.
For more information on the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, visit the CVLP website and watch our explainer video.