Second major agreement with Novartis

RNS Number : 9439T

Oxford Biomedica PLC

10 October 2014

 



Oxford BioMedica announces new process development and manufacturing collaboration which includes LentiVector^® licence agreement

Oxford, UK - 10 October 2014: Oxford BioMedica plc (LSE: OXB), ("OXB" or "the Group") a leading gene and cell therapy company, announces today that it has signed further contracts with Novartis which build on the collaboration with Novartis announced in May 2013.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Novartis will pay $14 million upfront including a $4.3 million equity subscription for a non-exclusive worldwide development and commercialisation licence in oncology under the Group's LentiVector^® platform. OXB will manufacture lentiviral vectors expressing CTL019/CART-019. The manufacturing contract has an initial three year term. Additionally, OXB has granted Novartis an exclusive licence for the worldwide development and commercialisation of all Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell products arising from the process development collaboration.

According to the terms of the deal, OXB is eligible to receive up to $90 million from Novartis over the next three years. This amount includes the upfront licence payment, the equity investment, manufacturing and process development services and various performance incentives. The equity investment comprises 70,807,500 ordinary shares at 3.8p, the average middle market price for the 10 business days prior to 7 October 2014. OXB will also receive undisclosed royalties on potential future sales of CTL019 and other CAR T cell products covered by the agreement.

Commenting on the announcement, John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford BioMedica, said:

"We are delighted to sign a second agreement with Novartis. Oxford BioMedica now has a breadth of leading capabilities in gene and cell therapy under-pinned by a dominant LentiVector^® patent estate (licensed to multiple companies), and a state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility.  Today's commitment from Novartis, including their equity investment, strongly endorses this.  Our team has demonstrated its ability to solve complex gene and cell therapy manufacturing challenges, and to develop the state-of-the-art analytics essential for such programmes. 

"Oxford BioMedica aims to help facilitate access to life changing treatments for many more patients with a variety of clinical indications and is now strongly positioned to deliver significant value-creating results against its strong asset base." 

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Conference call details

Oxford BioMedica will host a conference call and Q&A session for analysts and investors at 09:30am BST today.  The call will be hosted by John Dawson, CEO, and Tim Watts, CFO.

Conference call details are as follows: UK dial in: 0800 694 1478, international dial in: [phone], Conference ID: 16956796.

An audio replay file will be made available shortly afterwards via the Company's website on the "Media/Download centre/Webcasts and audio" section.   Alternatively, you may listen to the replay by dialling the following number: UK dial in: 0871 700 0145, international dial in: [phone] (available until 04/11/2014 11:30 BST), conference ID: 16956796. 

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/Jessica Hodgson/Matthew Neal Consilium Strategic Communications	Tel: [phone]

Notes for 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 Group'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 range of 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.

 

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