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

 

Clostridium drug delivery microbiome therapeutics chain biotech

CHAIN’s drug delivery platform and lead product, β-hydroxybutyrate, is highlighted in a new report ‘Catalysing Investment and Growth’, released by the BioIndustry Association this week. Our microbiome therapeutics are based on spores of Clostridium bacterial species. We have successfully demonstrated scale-up of bacterial spore production with our partners at Porton Biopharma Ltd as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, through a grant awarded by Innovate UK. The project also investigated the feasibility of developing a production facility with another UK company, Scitech Engineering Ltd.

 

The report explains how investment and growth is driven by the UK life sciences sector and emphasises the need for further public investment in the sector. The report aims to inform the Government, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and other policymakers as they prepare for the upcoming Spending Review and develop an R&D roadmap to reach the target of raising R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027. The full report can be found here.

CHAIN features in a new explainer document on engineering biology from the UK Bioindustry Association (BIA) published today. Engineering Biology Explained discusses what these areas are all about, showcasing the important contributions made to these industries by UK bioscience companies and outlining the external environment required to ensure that these areas of innovation continue to benefit patients, the economy and society as a whole.

CHAIN’s contribution to the piece focuses on our novel CADD drug delivery platform, exemplified by our lead product which delivers R-3-hydroxybutyrate to the large intestine. This report is part of a series of four, covering the issues of antimicrobial resistance, cell and gene therapy, engineering biology and genomics. The engineering biology report was published alongside one covering cell and gene therapy. The reports on antimicrobial resistance and genomics will be published later in October 2018.

3HB drug delivery to gut halts inflammation

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.