Touchlight’s Cell-Free DNA Platform Enters First-in-Human Cancer Trial
The first UK patient has been dosed in the Phase I NEOVACC trial using Touchlight’s proprietary doggybone DNA technology to manufacture a bespoke cancer vaccine.
UK-based, cell-free DNA provider, Touchlight, has announced that a bespoke cancer vaccine manufactured using its proprietary doggybone DNA (dbDNA) technology has been dosed in the first UK patient in an early-stage trial (1). The company’s technology uses enzymes to amplify DNA efficiently through a streamlined, cell-free process, which simplifies production and shortens development timelines for personalized vaccine components in comparison to traditional methods.
The NEOVACC Phase I trial, which is taking place at The Clatterbridge Cancer Center (CCC) and the University of Liverpool, will evaluate the safety and ability of the personalized vaccine in triggering an immune response against the most common form of lung cancer — advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The first patient to be treated has advanced lung cancer that has only partially responded to standard immunotherapy and the researchers are hoping that the personalized vaccine will give their immune system the boost required to tackle the tumor.
“We are excited to be using Touchlight’s ‘doggybone DNA’ (dbDNA) technology in the creation of this vaccine, which has the potential to be a gamechanger in reducing the speed and cost of production of these important therapies,” said Professor Christian Ottensmeier, CCC Consultant Oncologist and Chief Investigator of the trial, in a Touchlight press release about the news (1). “In essence it’s making impossible timelines with traditional plasmid now possible. This personalized approach could offer hope to those for whom standard immunotherapy has not fully worked, by helping the immune system recognize and fight the parts of the tumour that have previously evaded detection. I hope this research will contribute to new ways of thinking about cancer vaccine use in advanced lung cancer.”
“It is a very exciting study because, if successful, this strategy could benefit more than half of patients with advanced lung cancer, and possibly those with other types of cancer as well,” added Professor Natalia Savelyeva, Research Co-Lead for the trial, in the press release (1).
“We are very excited to work with Profs Ottensmeier and Savelyeva,” commented Jill Makin, Chief Scientific Officer of Touchlight, in the press release (1). “The doggybone DNA technology provides an ideal means to deliver rapid individual personalized vaccines to this large group of patients with an unmet clinical need and other patients with solid cancers.”
A total of 10 patients will participate in the NEOVACC Phase I trial with the aim of determining whether the personalized vaccine can train the immune system in the desire way and if there is a resultant link to an improvement in cancer (2). The trial is being funded via a GBP 2.66 million grant from the Medical Research Council’s Development Pathway Funding Scheme (1).
References
Touchlight. Touchlight’s doggybone DNA (dbDNA) Technology Enables First UK Patient Dosing in Pioneering Personalized Lung Cancer Vaccine Trial. Press Release, July 30, 2026.
NIHR Be Part of Research. NEOVACC: A Personalized DNA Vaccine for Patients with Advanced Lung Cancer. Bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk, accessed Aug. 4, 2026.