TIDMOXB
Oxford Biomedica PLC
11 August 2017
Oxford BioMedica announces a GBP2 million two-year collaboration
co-funded by Innovate UK
- The agreement is to explore a next generation gene and cell
therapy manufacturing platform for clinical and commercial
applications
London, UK - 11 August 2017: Oxford BioMedica plc ("Oxford
BioMedica" or "the Group") (LSE:OXB), a leading gene and cell
therapy group, has announced it has agreed, as lead partner, to
enter into a collaboration agreement with a consortium of partners,
including the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, Stratophase Ltd and
Synthace Ltd. The agreement is a two-year GBP2 million
collaboration project focused on gene and cell therapy
manufacturing, co-funded by the UK's innovation agency, Innovate
UK.
The aim of the collaboration is to explore and apply novel
advanced technologies to further evolve OXB's proprietary
suspension LentiVector(R) platform to deliver even higher quality
vectors for both clinical and commercial use. The project aims to
deliver tangible benefits to patients by shortening the
time-to-clinic and time-to-market as well as to improve the cost
and access of bringing novel gene and cell therapies to
patients.
Each partner in the collaboration holds proprietary technology
and know-how that can be used to develop an innovative approach to
viral vector manufacturing. The aims of this pioneering project are
closely aligned with the current government national priorities to
make the UK a global hub for manufacturing advanced therapies,
which will benefit economic growth and create and retain more
highly skilled employment.
John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford BioMedica, the
consortium lead, commented: "Cell and gene therapies offer
unprecedented promise for the cure, treatment or long term
management of disease and we are delighted that this consortium has
been awarded funding from Innovate UK that will help to keep Oxford
BioMedica, our partners and the UK, at the forefront of innovation
in industrial viral vector manufacturing.
Keith Thompson, Chief Executive Officer of Cell and Gene Therapy
Catapult, commented: "Collaborating on developing improved process
analytic technologies with our partners will help drive
productivity in viral vector manufacturing, accelerating the
development of these transformative advanced therapies. We have the
opportunity to both transform patients' lives and grow an industry
in the UK that we can be proud of"
Simon Saxby, Chief Executive Officer of Stratophase, commented:
"We are looking forward to working as a member of such a strong
partnership. We see our inclusion as validation of our Ranger(R)
adaptive control technology which is gaining significant traction
in the biotech and cell and gene therapy sectors. Overall, we are
delighted at the prospect of actively contributing to the
accelerated development of novel, cost-effective advanced
therapies".
Sean Ward, Chief Technical Officer of Synthace, commented:
"Antha, our high-level language and operating system for biology,
was developed to empower researchers to tackle highly complex
biological problems. Cell and gene therapies are one of the most
challenging and impactful applications of modern biotechnology, and
we are excited to be working with our experienced partners to
expand the capabilities of Antha to help in this domain."
- Ends -
For further information, please
contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc: Tel: +44 (0)1865
John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer 783 000
Tim Watts, Chief Financial Officer
Consilium Strategic Communications Tel: +44 (0)20
Mary-Jane Elliott/Matthew Neal/Philippa 3709 5700
Gardner/Laura Thornton
Notes for editors
About Oxford BioMedica
Oxford BioMedica (LSE:OXB) is a leading gene and cell therapy
group focused on developing life changing treatments for serious
diseases. Oxford BioMedica and its subsidiaries (the "Group") have
built a sector leading lentiviral vector delivery platform
(LentiVector(R) ), which the Group leverages to develop in vivo and
ex vivo products both in-house and with partners. The Group has
created a valuable proprietary portfolio of gene and cell therapy
product candidates in the areas of oncology, ophthalmology and CNS
disorders. The Group has also entered into a number of
partnerships, including with Novartis, Sanofi, GSK, Orchard
Therapeutics and Immune Design, through which it has long-term
economic interests in other potential gene and cell therapy
products. Oxford BioMedica is based across several locations in
Oxfordshire, UK and employs more than 250 people. Further
information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk.
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK is the UK's innovation agency. It works with people,
companies and partner organisations to find and drive the science
and technology innovations that will grow the UK economy. For
further information visit: www.innovateuk.gov.uk.
About Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult
The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult was established as an
independent centre of excellence to advance the growth of the UK
cell and gene therapy industry, by bridging the gap between
scientific research and full-scale commercialisation. With more
than 120 employees focusing on cell and gene therapy technologies,
it works with partners in academia and industry to ensure these
life-changing therapies can be developed for use in health services
throughout the world. It offers leading-edge capability, technology
and innovation to enable companies to take products into clinical
trials and provide clinical, process development, manufacturing,
regulatory, health economics and market access expertise. Its aim
is to make the UK the most compelling and logical choice for UK and
international partners to develop and commercialise these advanced
therapies. The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult works with Innovate
UK. For more information please visit ct.catapult.org.uk or visit
www.gov.uk/innovate-uk.
About Stratophase
Stratophase is a specialist biotech services company that is
revolutionising the timelines associated with the development and
commercialisation of biologics. This is achieved by the adaptive
control and optimisation of bioreactor environments using its
patented Ranger(R) optical sensing technology. Ranger is
scale-independent and enables cell culture optimisation to be
achieved in real-time, through the on-line assessment of metabolic
activity. The company has a wealth of application data and
expertise, gained through its on-going collaborations with industry
leading biopharma innovators. Stratophase was established in 1999
and is based in Romsey, near Southampton, UK. For more information
visit: www.stratophase.com.
About Synthace
Synthace is developing Antha, a language and software platform
specifically for biology that lets researchers aim higher and
achieve better results, faster. Antha is designed to make
reproducible and scalable workflows that can be readily edited and
shared, and easily automated on labs' existing equipment. In 2016,
the World Economic Forum included Synthace in its selection of the
world's 30 most promising Technology Pioneers that are helping
shape the Fourth Industrial Revolution - a technological revolution
that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and relate to
one another. For more information, visit: www.synthace.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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