Oxford BioTherapeutics Announces Second Oncology Drug Candidate Selected to Advance Into Formal IND-Enabling Studies From Boehringer Ingelheim Collaboration

Oxford BioTherapeutics Ltd. recently announced that Boehringer Ingelheim has selected a second asset to advance into formal IND enabling studies. The asset discovery was enabled by OBT’s proprietary OGAP target discovery platform. It is one of several assets that have emerged from OGAP, including several assets in preclinical and clinical development by OBT. BI’s selection triggered a milestone payment to OBT.

“We view BI’s selection of a second asset to move into development as further confirmation of the value of our OGAP platform to identify novel targets that can be substrates for innovative new therapies,” said Christian Rohlff, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of OBT. “OBT’s platforms are designed to discover novel therapeutic targets and engineer antibody constructs to those targets, including bi-specific, antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) therapeutics to best address difficult-to-treat cancers. We look forward to continued advancement of our partnered and in-house programs, including our most advanced asset, OBT076, a CD205 targeting antibody, which is in Phase 1 clinical development in the U.S. for patients with high risk breast cancer and other solid tumors.”

OBT and BI’s collaboration employs OBT’s OGAP target discovery platform to identify novel drug discovery targets that can be substrates for innovative antibody-based therapeutics. Under the terms of the agreement, BI is responsible for the development and commercialization of antibody product candidates that interact with the novel targets identified by OGAP. OBT will receive development and regulatory milestone payments and royalties on any future product sales. To date, BI has exercised two options under the agreement and has selected two therapeutic candidates for further development.

Oxford BioTherapeutics is a clinical stage oncology company; based in Oxford, UK and San Jose, USA; with a pipeline of first-in-class immuno-oncology (IO) and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) based therapies designed to fulfil major unmet patient needs in the field of cancer. OBT’s IO discovery process provides unique insights into the cancer – immune cell synapse and has identified several novel IO candidates and bispecific antibodies for cancer therapy.

OBT’s clinical lead program is OBT076 (MEN1309), currently in a US Phase I Clinical Trial in Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors. OBT076 is in development for a number of tumors including HER2 negative breast cancer, triple-negative metastatic breast cancer, gastric, bladder, ovarian and lung cancer, where CD205 is overexpressed. Infiltration of primary localized breast tumors by immunosuppressive cells correlates with an adverse outcome (PFS and OS), suggesting they contribute to the progression of breast cancer and several other solid and liquid cancers.

OBT’s pipeline and development capabilities have been validated through multiple strategic  partnerships including with world leaders in antibody development (such as Amgen, Alere, BioWa, Medarex (BMS), Immunogen, Nerviano and WuXi) and Menarini. Additionally, two pre-clinical stage programs are partnered with Boehringer Ingelheim. OBT has a strong oncology focused management team and board with significant experience in developing IO and antibody-based therapies. For more information, visit www.oxfordbiotherapeutics.com.