Licence agreement

RNS Number : 9590F

Oxford Biomedica PLC

22 January 2010

 



For Immediate Release

22nd January  2010

OXFORD BIOMEDICA SECURES EXCLUSIVE LICENCE FOR KEY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RELATED TO OCULAR PRODUCTS

Oxford, UK: 22nd January 2010: Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB), a leading gene therapy company, announced today that it has entered a licence agreement with the Research Development Foundation, the technology transfer entity for the Clayton Foundation for Research of Houston, Texas. Under the terms of the agreement, Oxford BioMedica has secured exclusive rights to intellectual property that supports its gene-based ocular products RetinoStat® and Encorstat®. Oxford BioMedica will pay an upfront payment and royalties on sales. Further details were not disclosed.

The intellectual property describes a novel method for effective delivery of anti-angiogenic genes to the eye using lentiviral vectors. The technology was invented by Dr Timothy Stout and Dr Binoy Appukuttan working at the Oregon Health & Science University. 

In a separate agreement, also announced today, the Research Development Foundation has agreed to subscribe for a total of 1,699,876 ordinary shares of 1p each at £0.11575 per share. Application will be made to the United Kingdom Listing Authority ('UKLA') for the newly issued ordinary shares in Oxford BioMedica to be admitted to the Official List of the UKLA and to the London Stock Exchange plc for admission to trading on its market for listed securities. The shares are expected to commence trading on 28th January 2010. 

John Dawson, Chief Executive of Oxford BioMedica, commented: "We are delighted to have secured exclusive rights to these patents and to be working with Dr Stout and his team. We look forward to a successful 2010 as we progress our ocular products towards the clinic." 

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For further information, please contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc:  John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer Nick Woolf, Chief Business Officer	Tel: [phone]
JPMorgan Cazenove Limited: James Mitford/ Gina Gibson	Tel: [phone]
Media/Financial Enquiries: Lisa Baderoon/ Mark Court  Buchanan Communications	Tel: [phone]
US Enquiries: Thomas Fechtner The Trout Group LLC	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors

1. Oxford BioMedica®

Oxford BioMedica (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 (formerly Wyeth). Technology licensees include Biogen Idec, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co and Pfizer. Further information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk

2. The Clayton Foundation

The Clayton Foundation for Research is a Houston, Texas-based non-profit medical research organization founded in 1933 by Benjamin Clayton. The Clayton Foundation and its supporting entities have more than thirty medical research projects at eleven institutions, and the Foundation has the rights to the intellectual property arising from these projects. Several cutting-edge biomedical technologies discovered by the Clayton Foundation have been successfully commercialized through the creation of start-up companies and out-licensing.

 

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