By Donald Zuhn —

Oxford BioMedica announced on March 12th that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Oxxon Therapeutics Ltd.  The transaction – valued at about US $31 million – will be completed, in part, by the issuance of more than 27 million Oxford BioMedica shares to Oxxon shareholders.

Oxford BioMedica is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of gene-based therapeutics in the areas of oncology and neurotherapy.  Oxford BioMedica’s oncology pipeline includes two drug candidates in Phase II trials and a Phase III trial with TroVax® to treat renal cancer.  The company’s neurotherapy pipeline includes a drug candidate for treating Parkinson’s disease.

Oxxon Therapeutics is a private company specializing in antigen-specific immunotherapies for treating chronic infectious diseases and cancer.  In particular, Oxxon has completed Phase II trials for candidates
for treating melanoma and hepatitis B.  Oxxon has also developed the Hi-8® PrimeBoost® immunotherapy platform, a two-step treatment regimen designed to stimulate potent cellular immune responses.   

Oxford BioMedica’s patent portfolio includes at least twenty-three U.S. patents and fifteen U.S. patent application publications,
a number of which are directed to viral vectors and delivery systems.  Oxxon’s portfolio includes U.S. Patent No. 6,663,871,
which is directed to methods and reagents for vaccination which
generate a CD8 T cell immune response, and six U.S. patent application
publications.

Describing the reasons for Oxford BioMedica’s acquisition of Oxxon, Chief Executive Alan Kingsman noted that:

The acquisition expands our immunotherapy pipeline and strengthens our intellectual property position in the field of immunology.  Oxxon’s Hi-8® MEL vaccine has generated encouraging Phase II results as a treatment of advanced melanoma.  The market opportunity for an effective melanoma vaccine is substantial and this is a cancer type where our immunotherapy, TroVax, cannot be developed because, unlike the vast majority of human tumours, melanomas do not have 5T4 on the surface of the tumour cells.  This acquisition is part of the implementation of a plan for the development of our pipeline following finalisation of a licensing deal for TroVax.

Additional information concerning the acquisition can be found in a statement released by Oxxon.