It was a big weekend for cancer vaccines, if you can read between the lines written of and by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. The Associated Press was present at a cancer conference held on Sunday (May 30th), and followed up with a nice story about four big-time success stories with cancer vaccines. The four were…

• Lymphoma
• Prostate
• Melanoma
• Neuroblastoma

The types of cancer themselves aren’t the encouraging part for us as investors. Rather, it was the buzz the immune therapy work-to-date was creating a buzz among the medical community…. among the doctor’s and researchers who are more interested in quality healthcare than they are about monetizing the medicine. Their opinion holds a lot more meaning than, say a company’s (biased) opinion about its own R&D.

In other words, immune therapy and cancer vaccines are working their way into world of mainstream medicine.

What the article didn’t do was actually list the companies behind the four success stories. That’s fine - the AP isn’t a shill for publicly-traded stocks. We aren’t either, but we’re at least curious about who got all these MD’s excited. So….

We ferreted out the corporations who presented the encouraging data at the conference.

In no particular order:

• Lymphoma: Biovest International Inc. (BVTI), and it’s partial parent company Accentia Bipharmaceuticals Inc. (ABPIQ) figured out a way to move the median disease-free survival rate 30.66 months to 44.2 months (a 47% increase) with their BiovaxID drug.
• Prostate: Generex Biotechnology Corp. (GNBT) demonstrated that their vaccine is “safe, well tolerated and produces the desired immunological response in patients.”
• Melanoma: Actually, this one’s not being developed by a drug/pharma company. Patrick Hwu, MD, head of melanoma medical oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is heading up this work.
• Neuroblastoma: This one’s also being developed privately (by a school), so there’s no direct investment opportunity… unless someone buys the technology and research and any associated patents.

The Companies They Didn’t Tell You About

While the event featured four specific companies or organizations in the field of immune therapy, investors actually have a handful of other ways to invest in the relatively-new arena.

The first one is Dendreon Corp. (DNDN)……yes, the Dendreon.

The biotech company is probably further along the R&D path than any other cancer vaccine developer. Its prostate cancer treatment Provenge is shown to be relatively effective, though not by much - the drug extends the patient’s life by an average of four months.  In fact, Dendreon’s rug was pulled out from underneath the company in the prostate cancer race recently when OncoGenex Pharmaceticals (OGXI) posted better prostate cancer treatment efficacy with their treatment.

Just goes to show that hype and stature can get you further within the investment community than results can…. most investors still haven’t heard of OncoGenex.

The last word was that OncoGenex was looking for a funder or investor to finance Phase III for their drug. Dendreon won’t have the same financial challenges, just like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) didn’t. Glaxo HPV vaccine MAGE-3 is currently in phase III trials. The Glaxo drug - if approved - will go toe to toe with Merck’s (MRK) Gardisil.

Another off-the-radar stock in the field of cancer vaccines is CEL-SCI Corp. (CVM). The company’s head and neck cancer drug Multikine is also ready to enter Phase III testing; the company is planning it now. Multikine has shown tremendous promise in treating other cancers too, and Phase II results were absolutely stellar.

Even further down the totem pole is ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd. (IMUC). The company’s got nothing even into Phase III studies yet, so don’t look for fireworks tomorrow…. or even next year. It’s a name you’re apt to hear again though.

There are others too, and they aren’t too hard to find if you can get past all the mega-pharma companies. Here’s a little hint though - don’t just think about companies in the United States. There are more cancer vaccines being develoepd outside of the U.S. than within, and the market is global too.

We’re going to follow up in great detail going forward on the subject; the industry is very ‘real’ now. If you’d like our ongoing analysis and unbiased updates about which companies are contenders and which are pretenders, subscribe to our free newsletter today.