Matthew Halpert, PhD, Founder & CEOAt Immunocine Cancer Center, that hope is met with scientific rigor and careful assessment of whether personalized immunotherapy has a safe, meaningful place in each patient’s care. Based in Cancún and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the center offers its proprietary “Double Loaded” dendritic cell therapy only after a complimentary medical review establishes suitability.
“Cancer is as much an immunological disorder as anything” says Matthew Halpert, PhD, founder and CEO. “Its very existence is predicated on the fact that the immune system is ignorant and continually failing to eliminate it.”
Cancer often presents more targets to the immune system than a narrowly focused or “ignorant” immune response may address. Instead of selecting a single target or a limited set, Immunocine works with the patient’s own tumor material and immune cells, using total tumor mRNA and proteins.
“Each part of our immunotherapy model centers on the patient and the science guiding the process,” says Halpert.
Immunocine’s patented Double Loading process is a science-first approach intended to educate, activate and engage the immune system against cancer in ways not previously accomplished. The goal is to physiologically activate the immune system with a novel, complete approach, and allow the system to recognize a wider range of tumor characteristics to develop a coordinated response against cancer-associated targets based on the patient’s own biology.
Evaluation Comes Before Treatment
Applicants submit medical records, scans, laboratory results and oncology notes for Immunocine’s medical team to assess treatment suitability. Coordinators guide the process and answer questions. Following evaluation, patients can speak directly with physicians and executives about the treatment’s intended role in their care. The review and evaluation are complimentary, even if the patient decides not to proceed.
The medical team of specialists determines if a patient can safely receive treatment. Immunocine’s therapy can sometimes be used on its own, but the team may recommend another therapy first or combining it with other treatments.
“Our goal really is trying to get the patient many more decades, not just months, and so we look at everything available on a case-by-case basis,” points out Halpert.
Once a patient is deemed suitable for the treatment, the next phase begins. Specific blood and laboratory work, scans and immunological analysis follow, which enable diagnostic experts to complete their assessments.
Immunocine oversees transport and quality control of collected samples and data throughout the evaluation process. It manufactures its personalized cell products in an ISO Class 7 positive-pressure cleanroom operated under applicable Mexican laboratory licenses and regulatory controls such as COFEPRIS. These laboratory authorizations are distinct from approval of the therapy itself, which is not FDA-approved.
Our goal is not just about getting patients through the door. We want to be part of helping the patients win the fight against cancer.
Finding the Immune System’s Coordinator
Personalization at Immunocine continues with the biology of each patient’s cancer.
Dendritic cells, which are professional antigen presenting cells, are central to its science.
The immune system comprises cells with different responsibilities, and dendritic cells act as critical coordinators. They recognize threats, present information to other immune components, organize responses and contribute to immunological memory.
Immunocine’s Double Loading process introduces corresponding cancer-target information through two antigen-presentation pathways, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I, which handles antigens from inside the cell, and class II, which handles antigens from outside, with precise overlap. The goal is to intracellularly activate a powerful dendritic cell program, and engage both helper T cells, which coordinate and support the response, and cytotoxic T cells, which can directly kill cancer cells.
According to Immunocine’s research, the overlap between matching cancer information through both internal and external antigen-presentation pathways is central to properly activating the dendritic cells. The activated cells can recognize the threat and organize a strong immune response. The process educates the patient’s dendritic cells using their own cancer material, without genetically manipulating the cells, before returning them to the body.
“Having the right key is not enough if it is being pushed against the wrong part of the door,” says Halpert. “Double Loading is about getting the cancer information into the dendritic cell in the precise manner required to activate the response.”
Placement of the cells matters, too. Immunocine administers the cells near functional, draining lymph nodes, where they can perform their coordinating role within the immune system.
Turning Treatment into a Measured Process
Creating personalized cell therapy is only half the work. Immunocine also seeks to understand what happens after treatment enters the patient’s body.
Flow cytometry allows Immunocine to examine immune activity beyond broad blood counts. Approximately 50 biomarkers per patient are evaluated at four time points during treatment, with additional assessments if/when patients return.
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Each part of our immunotherapy model centers on the patient and the science guiding the process.
The analysis examines immune-cell education and activation, memory, suppressive or exhausted cells, and T-cell and natural-killer-cell function. Selected findings appear in each patient’s treatment summary. The data also support Immunocine’s research into cancer and personalized treatment, although immune activity alone does not establish a particular clinical outcome.
“It’s important to put pieces of the puzzle together when dealing with a cancer treatment,” says Halpert.
Independent laboratories serve as a layer of verification. Immunocine sends samples out to verify the dendritic-cell product and generally outsources pathology and liquid-biopsy testing. Liquid biopsies examine circulating tumor cells before treatment and, several weeks later, look for changes that may reflect pressure from the immune system.
Where Science Meets the Patient
Immunocine’s laboratory, clinic and patient-facing operations share a facility, keeping scientists and physicians in continual communication to connect scientific observations with clinical decisions.
Patients can meet the science team and learn how their treatment was produced. For example, during the second treatment visit, the scientific team may even spend time with the patient explaining immune monitoring.
“Our goal is not just about getting patients through the door. We want to be part of helping the patients win the fight against cancer,” says Halpert.
Building Beyond the Current Protocol
Personalization extends through manufacturing, clinical evaluation, quality control, immune monitoring and research. Because each product is made for one patient, scaling requires dedicated preparation, trained personnel, laboratory space, analytical testing and independent verification. Immunocine has built its infrastructure accordingly.
The center maintains an active research facility where scientists work to improve its approach. It has begun publishing its research in journals such as Frontiers in Immunology, including case reports. The underlying “double loaded dendritic cell” technology is also being investigated in U.S. clinical trials.
Growing demand for its treatment has prompted Immunocine to establish a second location in Cabo San Lucas. The facility replicates the laboratory, scientific and clinical infrastructure developed in Cancún.
It has also introduced a US-based initiative, Immunocine Preserve, a tissue-preservation option to help patients preserve tumor-derived material for future personalized treatments. In consultation with their treating physician, patients can preserve tissue that might otherwise be discarded during biopsies or surgeries without having to decide immediately whether to pursue treatment.
Immunocine has also expanded its leadership team with specialists in medical oncology, clinical trials, cell therapies and clinical affairs, including chief medical officer Dr. Stephen Noga, executive director Vita Salsman and director of clinical affairs Dr. Janet Maendel.
These efforts point toward a larger ambition— the Immunocine Cancer Institute, a research-driven organization capable of developing and advancing its own personalized cell-therapy approaches.
Keeping Patients and Science Together
Immunocine’s patient-centered approach and commitment to research earned it recognition as the Immunotherapy Development of the Year 2026. As it advances personalized immunotherapy, the center continues to connect individual patient care with a deeper understanding of cancer and the immune system.
