?2.2 Million Grant Received from TSB

RNS Number : 8283F

Oxford Biomedica PLC

30 April 2014

 



Oxford BioMedica receives Technology Strategy Board grant for OXB-102

-- £2.2M award will be used to fund a Phase I/II clinical trial of OXB-102, an enhanced version of ProSavin^®; a gene therapy for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Oxford, UK - 30 April 2014: Oxford BioMedica plc ("Oxford BioMedica" or "the Company") (LSE: OXB), the leading gene-based biopharmaceutical company, today announces it has been awarded a £2.2 million grant by the UK's innovation agency, the Technology Strategy Board under the Biomedical Catalyst funding programme. This award will help fund a Phase I/II clinical trial of OXB-102 in Parkinson's disease patients.

Parkinson's disease is a progressive degenerative condition which is common within the aging population and caused by the degeneration of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain. Using Oxford BioMedica's proprietary LentiVector^® gene delivery technology, OXB-102 delivers the genes for three enzymes which are critical for the biosynthesis of dopamine.

OXB-102 is a new, more potent, form of ProSavin^® which completed a Phase I/II clinical trial in 2012, the results of which were published in January 2014 in The Lancet.  ProSavin^® demonstrated a favourable safety profile and a statistically significant improvement in motor function at six and 12 months post-treatment relative to baseline.  OXB-102 has been developed to increase the likelihood of success in later stages of development and future commercialisation.  Pre-clinical efficacy studies carried out in 2013 indicate that OXB-102 is at least five times more potent than ProSavin^®. 

The funding award is subject to due diligence and final confirmation by the Technology Strategy Board. Further details will be disclosed in due course.

John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford BioMedica, commented: "The Technology Strategy Board's Biomedical Catalyst funding programme is targeted at innovative projects in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) which demonstrate the potential to provide a positive healthcare and economic impact.  We are delighted to have been selected by the Technology Strategy Board again, following on from the grant we were awarded last year for EncorStat^® under the "Supporting regenerative medicines and cell therapies" competition.   

"This substantial second award will support our plans to further develop OXB-102 through the next stage of the clinical process and to its next value inflection point. Oxford BioMedica is a world leader in gene therapy solutions and, the delivery through our LentiVector^® platform, is at the cutting edge of UK medical innovation."

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For further information, please contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc: John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer Tim Watts, Chief Financial Officer	Tel: [phone]
Media Enquiries: Mary-Jane Elliott/Emma Thompson/Matthew Neal Consilium Strategic Communications	Tel: [phone]

Note to editors

About Oxford BioMedica^®

Oxford BioMedica plc (LSE: OXB) is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative gene-based medicines and therapeutic vaccines that aim to improve the lives of patients with high unmet medical needs. The Company's technology platform includes a highly efficient LentiVector^® gene delivery system, which has specific advantages for targeting diseases of the central nervous system and the eye; and a unique tumour antigen (5T4), which is an ideal target for anti-cancer therapy. Through in-house and collaborative research, Oxford BioMedica has a broad pipeline with current partners and licensees including Sanofi, Pfizer, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, MolMed, Sigma-Aldrich, Biogen Idec, Emergent BioSolutions, ImaginAb and Immune Design Corp. Further information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk and www.oxbsolutions.co.uk.

About the Technology Strategy Board

The Technology Strategy Board is the UK's innovation agency.  Its goal is to accelerate economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.  Sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future economy. For more information please visit www.innovateuk.org.

 

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