The Uppsala Trial – AdVince

Updated 21st March 2021

Thanks to a fellow patient for this update from Professor Essand. 

“The AdVince trial is actively recruiting NET patients with liver metastases. The AdVince trial is a so-called phase I dose escalation study with four dose levels and we are currently treating at dose level three (so far without observing severe toxicity). As for all phase I studies, the primary endpoint is safety and to determine maximum tolerable dose of the oncolytic AdVince virus. We are of course also looking for efficacy. We have for practical reasons so far only included local patients for the dose-escalation part (phase I). This is because of the complex treatment schedule with virus infusion on days 1, 8, 22 and 50 and follow up examinations on day 80. Patients are hospitalised three-four nights during each treatment because we are required from the authorities to collect blood, urine and saliva samples to follow virus replication. The clinical phase II (efficacy) trial will open after completion of the phase I part (hopefully 2022) and we hope to make the clinical protocol somewhat easier then, not having to hospitalise patients that long”.

Updated 6th July 2020

AdVince has so far been tested in six patients in Sweden by Prof Essand, who is one of the two largest shareholders in Elicera. The company has now opened a second clinical site in Tubingen in Germany and is gearing up for a trial of 12 patients.  Here’s a quote from the Professor:

“Since it is the first time this medication is being tested in humans, the Medical Product Agency (Swedish FDA) and ethics committee require that we start with dose escalation (phase I) to show that the treatment is safe. We have four dose levels with three patients per dose level and each patient is treated four times over two months and then evaluated one month later. We have treated six patients so far and thereby finished the two lowest dose level so far without observing any severe toxicity and encouraging responses. However, the trial is ongoing and it is still too early to draw any firm conclusions”.

Original blog info – The Uppsala Trial – AdVince

Read here for an update released 7th June 2019.

I’ll briefly describe what’s happening and then you can link to my Facebook article if you need more background.

The trial is called AdVince after Vince Hamilton who funded it. Unfortunately, he died before he saw any output but his forward-thinking and benevolence live on and might hopefully help NET patients in the longer term. It’s quite a small trial and is being conducted in Uppsala University Sweden, a famous European NET Centre of Excellence and where many people from across the world attend to take advantage of PRRT availability and experience and is home to famous NET specialist Kjell Öberg, MD, PhD, a professor of endocrine oncology.

A Swedish man (Jan-Erik Jannsson) was the first to get the virus to their cancer (NETs) using a genetically modified virus.

Unfortunately, I was given the news from a source close to the trial that Jan died last year of pneumonia.  I have no evidence to suggest his death is in anyway connected to the trial, but I’m told he was an ill man prior to the trial commencing.  I have therefore dedicated this post to him.  RIP Jan.

The initial data presented by the trial indicated that AdVince can be safely evaluated in phase I/IIa clinical trial for patients with liver-dominant NET.  The last I heard from the trial is that they are trying to recruit a further 12 patients to Phase IIa (the trial document allows for up to 36). 

Read more background on my Facebook post here: Click here

The trial document on the Clinical Trials Website: Click here

Then read this status update from the trial sponsors released in March 2018