Prof. Zhao Yanxiang, Associate Head and Professor of the PolyU Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, is leading a multidisciplinary research team to develop a novel integrated approach to unlock the enormous potential of cancer immunotherapy.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received funding support from the Strategic Topics Grant (STG) 2025/26 of the Research Grants Council (RGC) to support a multidisciplinary biomedical project aimed at developing an integrated technology platform for next-generation cancer immunotherapy. This pioneering research, which seeks to address some of the most pressing challenges in cancer treatment, has been awarded RGC funding of HK$32.4 million.
Although cancer immunotherapy represents a major breakthrough in clinical oncology, it still faces significant challenges. To address some of these, Prof. ZHAO Yanxiang, Associate Head and Professor of the PolyU Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, is leading a multidisciplinary research team to develop a novel integrated approach to unlock the enormous potential of cancer immunotherapy. The project, “An integrated technology platform for next-generation cancer immunotherapy - from identification of tumor neoantigens to development of novel therapeutic vaccine modalities,” has received a total funded budget of HK$36 million, of which RGC funds 90% of the project cost with the remaining 10% matched by the participating universities, over a period of five years.
Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation), said, “PolyU is at the forefront of medical research and technological innovation, harnessing the strengths of our dedicated scholars, interdisciplinary research excellence, and state-of-the-art facilities and resources. This major funding from the RGC highlights our strong academic and innovative capabilities, particularly in the integration of biomedical technologies and AI-powered healthcare advancements.”
Immunotherapy has revolutionised cancer treatment by using the body’s immune system to eliminate tumour cells. Antibodies that function as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T) have achieved remarkable clinical success, particularly in prolonging survival for some patients. However, these treatment options still face limitations as many cancer types are refractory to ICIs, and CAR-T is mostly effective in blood cancers but not in solid tumours.
Recently, neoantigen-based therapeutic vaccine has emerged as a promising new modality in cancer immunotherapy. Some leading candidates, particularly mRNA-based vaccines, have shown encouraging result in early-stage clinical trials. However, challenges such as insufficient immunogenicity of neoantigens and the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment remain as major hurdles for this approach.
To overcome these challenges, Prof. Zhao and the research team proposes to build an integrated technological platform to develop Peptide-based Immunogenic Neoantigen Vaccines (PIN-Vax). This proposed platform has received support from STG under the project topic “Using advanced technology to advance health care challenge.” The platform comprises four interconnected modules that collectively cover the full preclinical development cycle and make use of advanced artificial intelligence technology in an integrated approach.
The project plans to first apply the PIN-Vax platform to HPV-associated cervical cancer and HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma, as both cancers contain virus-derived neoantigens suitable for vaccine development. The research team will develop a robust pipeline of PIN-Vax candidates and evaluate their anti-tumour efficacy. Combing PIN-Vax candidates with ICIs is also planned to explore further synergistic effect. For future studies, this PIN-Vax platform will be applied in other cancer types, especially those showing limited response to existing ICIs or CAR-T therapy.
Prof. Zhao said, “We have brought together an interdisciplinary team of academic researchers, clinicians and industry partners to build the PIN-Vax platform. Our track record and preliminary studies demonstrate the feasibility of this project. Our long-term goal is to transform this platform into an innovative engine for next-generation cancer immunotherapy, benefiting cancer patients.”
STG has been set up to support collaborative research in specific areas which can help Hong Kong overcome imminent challenges and tap fast-evolving opportunities. The maximum duration of a project is five years. The ceiling of project cost per project to be awarded by the RGC is $40 million (excluding on-costs).
Although cancer immunotherapy represents a major breakthrough in clinical oncology, it still faces significant challenges. To address some of these, Prof. ZHAO Yanxiang, Associate Head and Professor of the PolyU Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, is leading a multidisciplinary research team to develop a novel integrated approach to unlock the enormous potential of cancer immunotherapy. The project, “An integrated technology platform for next-generation cancer immunotherapy - from identification of tumor neoantigens to development of novel therapeutic vaccine modalities,” has received a total funded budget of HK$36 million, of which RGC funds 90% of the project cost with the remaining 10% matched by the participating universities, over a period of five years.
Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation), said, “PolyU is at the forefront of medical research and technological innovation, harnessing the strengths of our dedicated scholars, interdisciplinary research excellence, and state-of-the-art facilities and resources. This major funding from the RGC highlights our strong academic and innovative capabilities, particularly in the integration of biomedical technologies and AI-powered healthcare advancements.”
Immunotherapy has revolutionised cancer treatment by using the body’s immune system to eliminate tumour cells. Antibodies that function as immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and chimeric antigen receptor-T cell therapy (CAR-T) have achieved remarkable clinical success, particularly in prolonging survival for some patients. However, these treatment options still face limitations as many cancer types are refractory to ICIs, and CAR-T is mostly effective in blood cancers but not in solid tumours.
Recently, neoantigen-based therapeutic vaccine has emerged as a promising new modality in cancer immunotherapy. Some leading candidates, particularly mRNA-based vaccines, have shown encouraging result in early-stage clinical trials. However, challenges such as insufficient immunogenicity of neoantigens and the immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment remain as major hurdles for this approach.
To overcome these challenges, Prof. Zhao and the research team proposes to build an integrated technological platform to develop Peptide-based Immunogenic Neoantigen Vaccines (PIN-Vax). This proposed platform has received support from STG under the project topic “Using advanced technology to advance health care challenge.” The platform comprises four interconnected modules that collectively cover the full preclinical development cycle and make use of advanced artificial intelligence technology in an integrated approach.
The project plans to first apply the PIN-Vax platform to HPV-associated cervical cancer and HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma, as both cancers contain virus-derived neoantigens suitable for vaccine development. The research team will develop a robust pipeline of PIN-Vax candidates and evaluate their anti-tumour efficacy. Combing PIN-Vax candidates with ICIs is also planned to explore further synergistic effect. For future studies, this PIN-Vax platform will be applied in other cancer types, especially those showing limited response to existing ICIs or CAR-T therapy.
Prof. Zhao said, “We have brought together an interdisciplinary team of academic researchers, clinicians and industry partners to build the PIN-Vax platform. Our track record and preliminary studies demonstrate the feasibility of this project. Our long-term goal is to transform this platform into an innovative engine for next-generation cancer immunotherapy, benefiting cancer patients.”
STG has been set up to support collaborative research in specific areas which can help Hong Kong overcome imminent challenges and tap fast-evolving opportunities. The maximum duration of a project is five years. The ceiling of project cost per project to be awarded by the RGC is $40 million (excluding on-costs).
