Emergent Licensing Agreement

RNS Number : 2314R

Oxford Biomedica PLC

18 August 2010

 

OXFORD BIOMEDICA^® ANNOUNCES LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH EMERGENT BIOSOLUTIONS INC.

Oxford, UK - 18 August 2010: Oxford BioMedica ("the Company") (LSE: OXB), a leading gene therapy company, today announces that it has signed a licensing agreement with Emergent Product Development Germany GmbH ("Emergent"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emergent BioSolutions Inc.  The agreement grants Emergent non-exclusive rights to Oxford BioMedica's Hi-8^® PrimeBoost technology patents and a sub-licence under poxvirus patents licensed to the Company for the development and commercialisation of vaccines and therapeutics targeting eight infectious diseases, including Tuberculosis.

Under the terms of the agreement Emergent will pay an upfront licensing fee of $1 million, potential milestone payments of up to $20.4 million, and undisclosed royalties on sales.  The milestone payments are based on specified development successes, including the initiation of future clinical trials, and will be paid out over several years.  One such milestone includes the initiation of a Phase III trial for the Tuberculosis vaccine candidate being jointly developed by the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium (OETC) Ltd., a collaboration between Emergent Product Development UK Ltd. and the University of Oxford.

An effective vaccine usually requires more than one immunisation.  Traditionally, vaccines are given multiple times as "homologous" prime-boosts using the same delivery system or "vector".  Heterologous prime-boost immunotherapy involves priming the immune system to target an antigen using one vector and then boosting the response by administration of the same antigen using a different vector.  In many cases this can elicit immune responses of greater magnitude and breadth than can be achieved by priming and boosting with the same vector.  Oxford BioMedica's Hi-8^® PrimeBoost technology is based on the use of DNA vaccines and recombinant viral vectors.

John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer at Oxford BioMedica, said: "Emergent has a diverse pipeline of vaccine products and is therefore another strong licensee of our heterologous prime-boost technology patents."

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For further information, please contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc: Lara Mott, Head of Corporate Communications	Tel: [phone]
Media/Financial Enquiries: Emma Thompson/Rob Newman/Ben Simons M:Communications	Tel: [phone]
US Enquiries: Thomas Fechtner The Trout Group LLC	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors

1. OxfordBioMedica^®

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 gene delivery system (LentiVector^®), 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 and its partners include sanofi-aventis, Sigma-Aldrich and Pfizer. Technology licensees include Biogen Idec, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co and Pfizer. Oxford BioMedica secured the heterologous prime-boost patents through the acquisition of Oxxon Therapeutics Ltd in March 2007 and licensed rights to Bavarian Nordic in January 2010. Further information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk.

2. Emergent BioSolutions Inc.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development, manufacture and commercialization of vaccines and antibody therapies that assist the body's immune system to prevent or treat disease. Emergent's marketed product, BioThrax^® (Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed), is the only vaccine approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of anthrax disease. Emergent's product pipeline targets infectious diseases and includes programs focused on anthrax, tuberculosis, typhoid, flu and chlamydia.  Further information is available at www.emergentbiosolutions.com.

 

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