OXIS’ IMMUNOTHERAPEUTIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Published on 01st April
Editorial Team
Oxis Biotech, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Oxis International, Inc. discussed during its March 31, 2015 conference call with shareholders, analysts and other interested parties its immunotherapeutic development strategy.
During the teleconference, Anthony J. Cataldo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer stated that Oxis Biotech is focused on developing immunotherapies for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), multiple myeloma and associated osteolytic lesions which are significant unmet medical needs. The development includes OXS-2175 (TNBC) and OXS-4235 (multiple myeloma) are also being developed as antibody-drug conjugates.
Antibody-drug Conjugates
As part of it’s development program, the company is pursing targeted immunotherapies with its partner MultiCell Immunotherapeutics. MultiCell ‘s proprietary antibody-drug conjugate platform technology is based on unique multivalent, cleavable linkers that allow tethered drugs to be released intracellularly or extracellularly upon binding of the antibody to the target cell. Furthermore, MultiCell’s linkers are designed to attach multiple drugs per targeting antibody, and to release the drugs in their original form without modification of the drug. An example of an FDA-approved ADC is brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris®; Seattle Genetics) for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL).
Bispecific immune cell engagers
In additional to developing traditional ADCs, Oxis Biotech is also developing bispecific immune cell engagers, a class of monoclonal antibodies that direct a person’s immune system to attack cancer cells. More specifically, bispecific immune cell engagers consist of the part of the monoclonal antibody which recognizes an immune cell such as a cytotoxic T-cell, and the part of a different monoclonal antibody which recognizes the cancer cell. When administered as a therapeutic, the bispecific immune cell engager brings cytotoxic T-cells in contact with the target cancer cell where the cytotoxic T-cell kills the cancer cell. An example of a bispecific immune cell engager is the recent FDA-approved drug blinatumomab (Blincyto®; Amgen) for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Oxis Biotech develops innovative drugs focused on the treatment of cancer and other unmet medical needs. OXIS’ lead drug candidate, OXS-2175, is a small molecule therapeutic candidate targeting the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.
In in vitro and in vivo models of TNBC, OXS-2175 demonstrated the ability to inhibit metastasis. OXIS’ lead drug candidate, OXS-4235, also a small molecule therapeutic candidate targets the treatment of multiple myeloma and associated osteolytic lesions. In in vitro and in vivo models of multiple myeloma and osteoporosis, OXS-4235 demonstrated the ability to kill multiple myeloma cells, and decrease osteolytic lesions in bone.
Exciting developments
Commenting on the company’s development, Anthony J. Cataldo, Chairmen and Chief Executive Officer Oxis International, Inc./Oxis Biotech, Inc. noted “The first quarter of 2015 has been very exciting for Oxis and our shareholders. There is a lot going on inside Oxis and [we we’re happy to share these developments] so [our sharholders] can understand what all of the excitement is about. I am using the same approach that I used when, as founder, I created Lion Biotechnologies, Inc. which has enjoyed dramatic success. We have acquired intellectual property assets, brought world class scientists on board, completed financings, and partnered with some of the best medical research facilities in the world. Oxis, has grown dramatically and achieved significant milestones recently.”
