Oxford BioMedica PLC (OXBDF)

[marcusl2]

For Oxford Biomedica, the deal is evidence of new-found partnering interest in the company since the initial approval last year of Basel-based Novartis AG's CAR T therapy Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Oxford, which produces lentiviral vector on behalf of Novartis, has gained a new-found prominence as a result and has received "quite a few approaches" from prospective partners, Dawson said. The company is now pursuing a hybrid model, offering its manufacturing and process development expertise to companies with their own gene therapy programs, while also developing proprietary programs of its own. At this point, it is looking to partner or spin these out before they enter the clinic. It is currently seeking venture capital funding for a new formed spin-out company, Ocquila Ltd., to take on two ocular disease programs, OXB-202 in development for corneal graft rejection, and the wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) therapy OXB-101. A deal could be imminent. "I would be looking for some news flow or other this calendar year," Oxford CFO Stuart Paynter told BioWorld.

HTTP://www.ocquila.com/