Oxford, UK – 2nd July 2019
Oxford Vacmedix UK Limited (OVM), the UK-based biopharma company focused on the development of cancer vaccines, announced today the award of an Innovate UK grant to CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd (CHAIN) and the University of Oxford to develop live biotherapeutics that support oral delivery for OVM’s recombinant overlapping peptide (ROP) cancer vaccines. The research will use CHAIN’s proprietary microbiome technology and the world-class research facilities in the University’s department of Oncology.
The project will initially focus on OVM-100 in a research project titled “Mucosal delivery of Clostridium spores encoding recombinant overlapping peptides (ROPs) of HPV antigen as therapeutic vaccines for cervical cancer”. This will bring together University of Oxford’s expertise and CHAIN’s innovative microbial delivery platform to establish the effectiveness of delivering ROPs to the colon for the treatment of cervical cancer.
Spun out from the University of Oxford, OVM holds an exclusive licence for the ROP technology. The technology uses the novel, proprietary platform of ROPs to design and develop therapeutic cancer vaccines and diagnostics with the potential for increased efficacy, lower costs, simpler regulatory pathways and synergy when used in combination with other immune-oncology agents. OVM is developing two cancer vaccines, OVM-100 and OVM-200, focusing on unmet clinical need. OVM-100 is an HPV vaccine targeted at cervical cancer. OVM-200 represents a new type of vaccine utilising survivin, a protein inhibitor of apoptosis, to target solid tumours.
Dr Shisong Jiang, Principal Investigator in the Department of Oncology and Founder of OVM, said:
“We are delighted to have this opportunity to work with CHAIN on this exciting project. The importance of effective and controlled delivery is key to the development of new cancer vaccine and we are very pleased to have support and funding from Innovate UK for this work on our immunotherapy cancer vaccines.”
Dr Edward Green, Chief Executive and Founder of CHAIN added:
“This project provides a further opportunity to exemplify our Clostridium-Assisted Drug Development (CADDTM) platform for targeted gut delivery of therapeutic peptides. We look forward to a successful collaboration with OVM and to establishing a combination approach that simplifies and accelerates the development of oral cancer vaccines providing significant patient benefits.”
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
William Finch, CEO, Oxford Vacmedix
T: +44 (0) 1865 742087 | M: +44(0)7769 903711 | E: wfinch@oxfordvacmedix.com
https://www.oxfordvacmedix.com
About Oxford Vacmedix
Oxford Vacmedix UK Ltd, based on the Oxford Science Park, UK, is a bio-pharma company that utilizes the novel proprietary platform technology of recombinant overlapping peptides (ROPs) invented by Dr Shisong Jiang. ROPs have been validated as a technology to stimulate broad and strong T cell immunity therefore forming a good platform for cancer therapeutic vaccines and diagnostics. The company is a spin-out of the University of Oxford and has extensive contacts and collaborations in China through Changzhou Bioscience that is using the ROP platform in both diagnostics and adoptive cell therapy.
For more information, please visit: www.oxfordvacmedix.com/
About CHAIN Biotech
CHAIN Biotechnology Ltd is a UK-based microbiome therapeutic company focused on the development and commercialisation of live biotherapeutic products (LBPs). LBPs are a new class of drug based on living bacteria found in the gut but engineered to deliver specific therapeutic molecules. We specialise in engineering Clostridia bacteria and our proprietary technology platform (CADDTM), based on a single bacterial species, supports multiple therapeutic products. CHAIN’s products address unmet clinical needs for safer, more effective and lower cost drugs. Treatments for diseases associated with the human gut microbiome have the potential to transform healthcare across many chronic and debilitating diseases. CHAIN was founded in 2014, by biotech entrepreneur Dr Edward Green and has labs at MediCity Nottingham with a head office in Marlow. CHAIN has assembled a highly experienced management team and Board comprising biotech and pharma leaders plus expert scientists with skills in microbiology, engineering biology and fermentation.
For more information, please visit: https://chainbiotech.com
Ben Bradley, our Head of Partnerships and Licensing, is attending Gut-Brain Axis 2018, part of the Biotech Pharma Summit conference series in Paris September 6 & 7. This year’s event brings together leading scientists, physicians, and senior leaders to explore the brain and its engagement with the GI-nervous system axis in health and disease.
Chief Executive Dr Edward Green will be in attendance at Clostridium XV in Munich September 18 – 20, with Dr Janina Koelschbach and Emily Powell. Whilst Clostridium species have achieved notoriety as human and animal pathogens, most members of this genus are entirely benign and many have distinctive features of interest for production of fuels and chemicals. CHAIN is keen to collaborate with other experts in the field of Clostridium, so please say hi to our friendly team!
Dr Green will be speaking at the OBN BioTuesday Midlands Showcase hosted by BioCity in Nottingham on September 25. The evening, which is complimentary to attend, will include a range of targeted keynote talks followed by a series of six showcase presentations from innovative companies predominantly from the Midlands.
Dr Green will be speaking again at EFIB 2018 which will be held in Toulouse on 16 – 18 October. EFIB is the market leading annual event in Europe for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy. The focus this year will be on delivering new bio-based products & processes to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Mr Bradley will be on the “Engineering Biology: The Next Revolution” panel at the UK Bioscience Forum in London on October 18. This panel also features Tim Fell (Synthace), Tim Brears (Evonetix), Ryan Cawood (Oxford Genetics), and Ben Reeve (CustoMem) – so don’t miss it!
Mr Bradley will attend the Pharma Integrates 2018 conference in London on November 12-13. This conference brings together key industry leaders across the Pharmaceutical pipeline to share insights and create debate on crucial topics that influence the future of patient outcomes. Talk to Ben to learn more about our novel drug delivery platform.
Dr Green will be presenting at the BioCentury China Healthcare Summit, held in Shanghai 13 – 14 November. The event is sponsored by the BIA, which is supporting UK companies with the UK Department of International Trade to develop relations with Chinese investors.