The Cancer Vaccine Coalition has awarded a $500,000 grant to expand the University of Washington School of Medicine's Phase 2 clinical trial of WOKVAC, an advanced therapeutic vaccine for HER2+ breast cancer. The grant, announced through a partnership between the Cancer Vaccine Coalition and the V Foundation for Cancer Research, represents the first of several planned grants aimed at modernizing cancer treatments.
Trial Design and Patient Population
The WOKVAC clinical trial enrolls patients with stage 1, 2, or 3 HER2+ breast cancer, administering the vaccine alongside chemotherapy and targeted therapies prior to tumor-removal surgery. The vaccine targets the HER2 protein and two other cancer proteins through a multi-antigen approach designed to stimulate tumor-specific immunity.
"Our goal in this study is twofold," explained principal investigator Dr. Will Gwin, assistant professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine and Fred Hutch Cancer Center researcher. "We aim to maximize the immune system's ability to fight cancer during treatment, and then to generate long-lasting immune memory that can help prevent the disease from coming back. This could be a revolutionary step in a new and more effective class of cancer treatments."
Early Results and Safety Profile
WOKVAC has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and robust immune response in early-stage patients with HER2+ breast cancer. The grant expansion will allow researchers to enroll additional participants to better understand the vaccine's cancer-killing immune response and strengthen the trial's statistical power.
"Cancer vaccines are real and at a tipping point," said Dr. Nora Disis, professor of medicine at the UW School of Medicine and director of the Cancer Vaccine Institute at UW Medicine. "This financial support puts us closer to a future where we can activate our own immune systems to fight cancer."
Clinical Significance and Disease Burden
HER2-positive breast cancer represents one of the most aggressive subtypes of breast cancer, affecting patients within the broader population of over 280,000 individuals diagnosed with breast cancer annually. The trial aims to assess the vaccine's potential to help prevent cancer recurrence and transform patient outcomes.
Patient advocate Carmel Laurino, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40 and received the WOKVAC vaccine, described her experience: "Getting WOKVAC alongside my treatment felt like an added layer of protection — hope grounded in science. I'm grateful I had access to this trial, and I want more patients to have the same chance. A vaccine that's safe, scalable, and affordable could save not only lives, but livelihoods."
Funding Partnership and Future Implications
The Cancer Vaccine Coalition, a national nonprofit launched by breast cancer survivor and former NBC correspondent Kristen Dahlgren, focuses on accelerating development of promising cancer vaccines. The organization partnered with the V Foundation for this initiative, with funding provided through the Game-Changer Grant program, supported by a $2 million matching gift from the Brian and Sheila Jellison Family Foundation.
"This is an important day for our effort to bring less toxic and more effective treatments to patients," said Dahlgren. "With this grant, we can help answer critical questions and move therapeutic cancer vaccines toward approval. Other countries are already embracing large-scale trials of cancer vaccines. CVC is building powerful collaborations and raising funds to do that here."
Susanna Greer, chief scientific officer at the V Foundation, emphasized the research's potential impact: "The WOKVAC study expansion is exactly the type of bold, high-impact research The V Foundation exists to fund. The University of Washington and Fred Hutch's expertise is world-class, and this work could spark discoveries that ripple across the cancer research community; changing lives for generations."
