|
||
| |||||||
|
US Patent Establishes Oxxon’s Leadership Position in Prime Boost Technology 15th January 2004, Oxford (UK)… Oxxon Pharmaccines Ltd (Oxxon), a mid-stage biotechnology company developing innovative immunotherapeutics, announced today that it has been granted a key US Patent around the generic use of its proprietary core platform technology, “Heterologous PrimeBoost” (HPB). US Patent number 6,663,871, entitled “Methods and reagents for vaccination which generate a CD8 T Cell immune response”, describes HPB in detail and covers the unique findings from Oxxon and its collaborating founders relating to the generation of a CD8+ T cell immune response using any immune prime (including, but not limited to, a protein, plasmid DNA or a viral vector) followed by a non-replicating pox virus boost – where the prime and boost differ, but both encode for the same disease-related antigen(s). HPB is applicable to both the therapeutic and prophylactic settings. Oxxon already has patents covering its HPB technology granted in Europe and Australia and additional applications have been filed in Japan, Canada and China. Oxxon’s lead products for the treatment of melanoma and chronic Hepatitis B infection employ its HPB technology and are currently in multi-centre Phase II clinical trials. The Company also has a number of pre-clinical products in additional therapeutic areas under development. Dr
Deirdre Gillespie, Oxxon’s President & CEO, said, “Oxxon’s
Heterologous PrimeBoost is a powerful, broadly applicable clinical platform for
the stimulation of a strong cellular immune response targeted against specific
cancers and chronic infectious diseases. This US grant continues to strengthen
our intellectual property base and establishes a commanding position for Oxxon
in this innovative field. HPB has a very good safety record, is highly specific
and is producing promising preliminary efficacy data in man. Oxxon will partner
HPB where appropriate and is in discussions with a number of potential partners
to broaden the technology to additional disease areas and to use it to
‘boost’ the potency of other immunotherapeutics or vaccines.” -ends- Notes
to Editors
Oxxon
Pharmaccinesâ
Ltd Oxxon Pharmaccines is a mid-stage biotechnology company developing a portfolio of immunotherapeutics for infectious disease and cancer in man using its proprietary Heterologous PrimeBoost approach. The Company, incorporated in 1999, has already successfully progressed its products for the treatment of melanoma and hepatitis B to Phase II clinical trials, and has a number of pre-clinical products in development on its own or through collaborations. The Heterologous PrimeBoost platform is a validated technology, with a good safety profile, applicable both to therapeutic and prophylactic settings. While Oxxon’s primary internal focus is the development of immunotherapeutic products, out-licensing this technology offers potential partners attractive opportunities for the development of human and animal vaccines and therapeutics. Oxxon will also consider the joint development of immunotherapeutics or the in-licensing of clinical stage immunotherapeutics. Clinical trials using Oxxon’s PrimeBoost for preventative vaccines include malaria and HIV/AIDS, in Phase II, and TB, in Phase I, are being driven by Oxxon’s founding collaborators and benefit from third party funding. For more information please see www.oxxonpharmaccines.com For
further information, please contact: Oxxon
Pharmaccines Ltd
|
|
| ||||||||