RESPONSE TO BAVARIAN NORDIC'S

RNS Number : 9811X

Oxford Biomedica PLC

01 July 2008

 



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	1 JULY 2008

OXFORD BIOMEDICA RESPONSE TO BAVARIAN NORDIC'S US LITIGATION 

Oxford, UK - 1 July 2008: Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB), a leading gene therapy company, today announces that it has been informed that Bavarian Nordic filed a patent infringement action against Oxford BioMedica plc, BioMedica Inc. and Oxford BioMedica (UK) Ltd., in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California regarding US Patent Nos. 6,761,893, 6,913,752, and 7,335,364, which relate to Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA). These patents correspond to Bavarian Nordic's European Patent No. 1335987, which is the subject of multiple oppositions, all asserting the invalidity of the claimed technology. 

Bavarian Nordic's claim is that the MVA vector system employed in Oxford BioMedica's therapeutic cancer vaccine, TroVax, which is in clinical development, infringes these US patents. 

Oxford BioMedica views Bavarian Nordic's US litigation as being without merit. Oxford BioMedica is confident in its position, is fully prepared to oppose this action vigorously, and will seek all appropriate relief against Bavarian Nordic. 

Peter Nolan, Oxford BioMedica's Senior Vice President, Commercial Development, commented: 'Throughout our 11 year history, Oxford BioMedica has been diligent to ensure that it has freedom to operate for all its development programmes and is entirely respectful of the intellectual property that has been developed by others. We believe that Bavarian Nordic's claim is unwarranted and we have a high degree of confidence that this action will prove fruitless for Bavarian Nordic.'

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For further information, please contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc:  Mike McDonald, Chief Executive Officer Nick Woolf, Chief Business Officer	Tel: [phone]
JPMorgan Cazenove Limited: James Mitford/ Gina Gibson	Tel: [phone]
City/Financial Enquiries: Lisa Baderoon/ Mark Court/ Mary-Jane Johnson Buchanan Communications	Tel: [phone]
Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries: Holly Griffiths/ Katja Stout/ Claire Mosley College Hill Life Sciences	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 specialising in cancer immunotherapy and gene-based therapies. The Company was established in 1995, as a spin-out from Oxford University, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. 

The Company has a platform of gene delivery technologies, which are based on highly engineered viral systems. Oxford BioMedica also has in-house clinical, regulatory and manufacturing know-how. The lead product candidate is TroVax®, a therapeutic vaccine for multiple solid cancers, which is licensed to sanofi-aventis for global development and commercialisation. TroVax is in Phase III development. Oxford BioMedica has three other products in clinical development, including ProSavin®, a novel gene-based treatment for Parkinson's disease, in a Phase I/II trial. The Company is underpinned by over 80 patent families, which represent one of the broadest patent estates in the field. The Company has a staff of approximately 85. Oxford BioMedica has collaborations with sanofi-aventis, Wyeth, Sigma-Aldrich, MolMed and Virxsys. Technology licensees include Biogen Idec, Merck & Co, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer. 

Further information is available at 

2. TroVax® 

TroVax is Oxford BioMedica's novel therapeutic cancer vaccine, which is being developed in collaboration with sanofi-aventis. It is designed specifically to stimulate an anti-cancer immune response and has potential application in most solid tumour types. TroVax targets the tumour antigen 5T4, which is broadly distributed throughout a wide range of solid tumours. The presence of 5T4 is correlated with poor prognosis. The product consists of a Modified Vaccinia Ankara vector, which delivers the gene for 5T4 and stimulates a patient's body to produce an anti-5T4 immune response. This immune response destroys tumour cells carrying the 5T4.

 

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