Collaboration With Immune Design Corp.

RNS Number : 2934N

Oxford Biomedica PLC

27 September 2012

 



Oxford BioMedica Announces Collaboration With Immune Design Corp.

Oxford, UK and Seattle, WA, USA - 27 September 2012: Oxford BioMedica plc ("Oxford BioMedica" or "the Company") (LSE: OXB), the leading gene-based biopharmaceutical company, has signed a master services agreement with Immune Design Corp. (Immune Design), a privately held biotechnology company based in Seattle, Washington (USA), which is developing a therapeutic vaccine utilising a lentiviral-based vector in order to target cancer and other chronic diseases.

The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford BioMedica's expertise in lentiviral vector clinical development by focusing on the design and validation of custom analytical methods, in order to facilitate the future clinical development path for Immune Design's pre-clinical therapeutic vaccine candidate for the treatment of cancer.

John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford BioMedica, commented: "Having successfully initiated ground-breaking clinical studies with our own gene therapy products, we pride ourselves on our translational expertise and look forward to supporting Immune Design with the transition of its therapeutic cancer vaccine into a first-in-man study."

Carlos Paya, Chief Executive Officer of Immune Design, said: "We are very excited to be working with Oxford BioMedica on the development of our lentiviral-based vector.  By capitalising on Oxford BioMedica's expertise in lentiviral vector products, we plan to rapidly advance our novel vector to clinic for the treatment of several cancer indications."

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For further information, please contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc: Lara Mott, Head of Corporate Communications	Tel: [phone]
Immune Design Corp.: Paul Rickey, [e-mail]	Tel: [phone]
Media Enquiries: Mary Clark/Sarah Macleod/Claire Dickinson M:Communications	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors

1. 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, GlaxoSmithKline, MolMed, Sigma-Aldrich, Biogen Idec, Emergent BioSolutions and ImaginAb.  Further information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk.

2. Immune Design Corp.

Immune Design is a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Seattle, Washington, and formed in 2008 to bring together some of the world's leaders in the field of molecular immunology to develop vaccines for the treatment and prevention of infectious and malignant disease.  The company employs advanced and leading edge methods to precisely control the activation and context of antigen presentation by dendritic cells in order to shape the desired adaptive immune response.  This goal is accomplished through the application of two proprietary technology platforms that activate the immune system by distinct mechanisms.  Additional information can be found on the company's website at www.immunedesign.com.

 

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