Joint Programme Agreed
Oxford Biomedica PLC
28 January 2003
28 January 2003
OXFORD BIOMEDICA AND KIADIS AGREE COLLABORATIVE
PROGRAMME ON WOUND HEALING
New Alliance to focus on the discovery and development of
novel compounds for wound healing
Oxford, United Kingdom and Leiden, The Netherlands. 28 January 2003 - Oxford
BioMedica plc ('Oxford BioMedica') and Kiadis BV ('Kiadis') have agreed a joint
programme directed, in the first instance, at wound healing. The global market
for wound healing is estimated to be in excess of $1 billion.
Oxford BioMedica has used its Focused Target Identification platform to identify
an enzyme that is central to the control of blood vessel growth, an essential
feature of effective wound healing. Inhibition of this enzyme is likely to be of
value in several disease conditions with particular emphasis in cardiovascular
indications. Wound healing will be the initial focus because this provides a
clear route to move towards clinical trials within a short period. Relevant
clinical applications include the treatment of debilitating non-healing ulcers
that occur in diabetic patients and the management of non-healing wounds
occurring as a consequence of cancer radiotherapy.
As part of the collaboration, Kiadis will apply its proprietary High Resolution
Screening (HRS) technology to identify novel molecules that interact with the
enzyme from complex mixtures of molecules derived from either natural products
or synthetic libraries (e.g. pooled single compounds). Oxford BioMedica will
characterise molecules identified by Kiadis as part of the product optimisation
process. The goal will be to produce a small molecule that has demonstrable
efficacy in both preclinical and clinical studies and to license that molecule
to an industry partner for commercialisation.
Alan Kingsman (CEO, Oxford BioMedica) said,
'We are delighted to be combining our first output from the Target
Identification programme with such creative chemistry. Kiadis is using a
completely novel approach to small molecule discovery. We anticipate finding
novel products that address the substantial unmet market for effective wound
healing'.
Steve Long (Director Drug Discovery, Kiadis) said,
'Kiadis has the ability to screen molecules with an enormous chemical diversity
and rapidly optimise chosen lead molecules, so we are delighted to form this
collaboration with Oxford BioMedica. Oxford BioMedica understands the target and
has the correct expertise to identify the value of chosen molecules - a winning
combination'.
-Ends-
For further information, please contact:
Oxford BioMedica plc
Professor Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0)1865 783 000
Kiadis BV
Dr Gerard Dijkstra, CEO Tel: +31 71 581 0000
City/Financial Enquiries:
Mike Wort, James Chandler: Beattie Financial Tel: +44 (0)20 7398 3300
Scientific/Trade Press Enquiries:
Sue Charles, Katja Stout: Northbank Communications Tel: +44 (0)20 7321 3870
Notes to Editors
1. Oxford BioMedica plc
Established in 1995 as a spin out from Oxford University, Oxford BioMedica plc
specialises in the development of novel gene-based therapeutics for the
treatment of cancer, neuro-degenerative disease and other disorders with major
unmet clinical needs. The development pipeline includes two novel anti-cancer
products in clinical trials and a gene therapy treatment for Parkinson's
disease, which is in late preclinical studies. This is underpinned by a broad
research pipeline and over 70 patent families, about quarter of which are
issued.
Oxford BioMedica's products use genes as the mediators of a therapeutic effect
and/or immune response. The Company's gene therapy products deliver therapeutic
molecules in vivo whilst its gene-based immunotherapy products deliver genes
that recruit the patient's immune system to mediate a therapeutic effect. The
genes are delivered by the Company's highly engineered viruses or cells.
BioMedica's lead product TroVax(R) is an anti-cancer therapeutic vaccine
expected to be useful against a broad range of tumour types. It is entering
Phase II trials in a number of indications including colorectal and renal
cancer, and is expected to be ready for Phase III trials at the end of 2003. The
Company's second cancer product, MetXia(R), is completing Phase I/II studies in
breast cancer.
Oxford BioMedica is headquartered in Oxford, UK and has a wholly-owned
subsidiary in San Diego, USA. BioMedica has corporate collaborations with Wyeth,
IDM, InterVet, Amersham and Arius Research.
Oxford BioMedica plc was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the
London Stock Exchange in December 1996, and was promoted to the United Kingdom
Listing Authority Official List in April 2001 following a successful £35.5
million fund-raising.
Further information is available on the World Wide Web at
http://www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk
2. Kiadis BV
Kiadis BV is a company that generates high quality; 'patentable' lead molecules
from complex mixtures of compounds for optimisation and development. The Company
aims to access the broadest chemical diversity possible by screening complex
mixtures of molecules, e.g. derived from both Natural and Synthetic sources such
as expanded (non-purified) combinatorial chemistry.
Kiadis' unique and proprietary technology combines compound separation, with the
biological evaluation and chemical characterisation of bioactive molecules in
parallel, and has been industry validated through collaborations with Bayer,
Monsanto and Unilever. The platform has two configurations: High Resolution
Screening (HRS), which can be used to screen non-human-derived complex mixtures
for active molecules against drug targets; and Orphan Target Screening (OTS),
which can be used to screen human samples (blood, urine, tissue extracts)
against orphan targets to identify endogenous ligands.
Kiadis was founded in 1997 as a spin-off company from the Leiden / Amsterdam
Center of Drug Research (University of Leiden). The company raised €6.5m in its
first round of funding from Life Sciences Partners (Amsterdam, the Netherlands),
Prelude Trust (Cambridge, UK), and Alafi Capital (San Francisco, CA).
The company is located at the BioScience Park of the University of Leiden, the
Netherlands.
Further information is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.kiadis.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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