Boehringer Ingelheim and Oxford BioTherapeutics Partnership Advances Second Oncology Drug Candidate into the Clinic

The Boehringer Ingelheim drug candidate was discovered in a partnership with Oxford BioTherapeutics and enabled by Oxford BioTherapeutics' proprietary OGAP® target discovery platform 

OXFORD, England; MORRISTOWN, N.J. and SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT), a clinical stage oncology company with a pipeline of immuno-oncology and ADC-based therapies, today announced that it has received another milestone payment from Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) for the progress of a second oncology drug candidate (BI 765049), discovered during the first phase of the partnership, into the clinic. In addition to OBT's clinical asset, OBT076, this BI drug candidate is one of OBT's several existing immuno-oncology programs that have been enabled through OGAP®.

In this Phase 1 clinical trial, BI 765049, will be administered to patients with advanced solid tumours including colorectal cancer, gastric carcinoma, pancreatic carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

"The advancement of the second oncology drug candidate, developed under our collaboration with BI, into the clinic is a major validation of our proprietary OGAP® drug discovery platform", said OBT's Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Christian Rohlff.  "Selecting the right target is fundamental for the successful development of a first-in-class antibody drug product. OBT's platforms are designed to discover and engineer antibody constructs to novel therapeutic targets – these include bi-specific, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CAR-T), Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) and Antibody-Dependent Cell-mediated Cytotoxicity (ADCC) therapeutics - to best address difficult-to-treat cancers. We believe that the advancement of the first two BI compounds, directed to an oncology target identified by us, into the clinic, further validates our approach".

 "We look forward to applying our experience to the continued advancement of our partnered and in-house programs, including our most advanced asset, OBT076, a CD205 targeting antibody, which is successfully progressing through dose escalation in the U.S. for patients with high risk breast cancer and other solid tumors", commented Abderrahim (Rahim) Fandi, M.D., Ph. D, Chief Medical Officer of OBT.  "Our U.S. clinical program is truly innovative because OBT076 not only acts to destroy tumor cells directly but can also potentially reverse immune tolerance. By targeting chemotherapy failure, in CD205 positive solid tumour patients, our strategy represents a new treatment approach for these patients with limited existing treatment options and rapid disease progression."

About Oxford BioTherapeutics

Oxford BioTherapeutics is a clinical stage oncology company; based in Oxford, UK; Morristown, New Jersey and San Jose, California, USA; with a pipeline of first-in-class immuno-oncology (IO) therapies specifically designed to fulfil major unmet patient needs in cancer therapeutics. These include bi-specific, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CAR-T), Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC)and Antibody-Dependent Cell-mediated Cytotoxicity (ADCC) therapeutics.

OBT's proprietary OGAP® target discovery platform comprises one of the world's largest proprietary cancer membrane proteomic databases, with data on over 5,000 cancer cell proteins providing unique, highly-qualified oncology targets, of which three programs are in clinical development in the USA and Europe. OBT's IO discovery process provides unique insights into the cancer-immune cell synapse and has identified several novel IO candidates for cancer therapies.

OBT's first clinical program, OBT076, initiated dose-escalation in U.S. Phase I Clinical Trial in 2019 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The program includes two expansion cohorts: (1) A high risk cohort consisting of HER2 negative, Hormone receptor positive (HER2-/HR+) chemotherapy-failure breast cancer patients; and (2) a basket trial in multiple pre-treated solid tumor patients. The Trial's dose-escalation phase is an open-label, multicenter study that will investigate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of OBT076 in patients with advanced or refractory solid tumors.

OBT's pipeline and development capabilities have been validated through multiple strategic partnerships including our cell therapy research collaboration with Kite Pharma and with world leaders in antibody development (such as Amgen, Immunogen, WuXi, Medarex (BMS), Alere (Abbott), BioWa, and Nerviano). OBT has a strong oncology focused management team and board with significant experience in developing IO and antibody-based therapies.

For more information on Oxford BioTherapeutics, please visit www.oxfordbiotherapeutics.com

Investors:

Dr Christian Rohlff, CEO
christian.r@oxfordbiotherapeutics.com

Media:

MEDiSTRAVA Consulting
Sylvie Berrebi, David Dible
E : OBT@medistrava.com
T : +44 (0) 7714 306525