GENE THERAPY company Oxford Biomedica has received permission from US regulators to test its treatment on prostate cancer patients.

The study will enrol patients with advanced cancer in five centres across the US, who will receive Biomedica’s vaccine TroVax, plus chemotherapy drug Taxotere. It is expected to start in the autumn.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide. The latest trial is aimed at men who do not respond to hormone therapy.

Chief executive John Dawson said: This is a significant final step in the planning of this study of TroVax.”

He added: “We intend this study to be followed by a series of investigator-led clinical studies and we are pleased to continue the clinical development of TroVax. With the study design now in place, we look forward to recruiting our first patient and advancing the development of TroVax.”

The company, based at Oxford Science Park, is also collaborating with cancer experts at Cardiff to evaluate TroVax in patients with mesothelioma, a disease linked to asbestos.