Isis Helps Oxford Company Raise £3m to Commercialise Predictive Cancer Biomarkers
24th January 2012
Treating only patients who are likely to benefit from anti-cancer drugs and identifying quickly which treatment is best for each person, is the aim behind a new spin-out from the University of Oxford, Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Limited (OCB).
• £3m investment in OCB from global biopharmaceutical services company Quintiles for a 27.5% stake
• Quintiles and OCB have entered into a research collaboration and licence agreement for the production of biomarkers and a consulting and marketing agreement for the provision of oncology and healthcare consulting services
• OCB retains rights for diagnostic kits
• Development of a new biomarker diagnostic with high predictive value
Oxford University Innovation, the University’s technology transfer company has licensed the CancerNav biomarker technology to OCB. The University also has an equity stake in the company. The company’s founding scientists are Professor Nick La Thangue, and Professor David Kerr. OCB has attracted a first round investment from Quintiles as part of a strategic alliance that will enable OCB to establish research facilities in Oxford to develop a range of predictive biomarkers, the first of which were developed by the founders at the University of Oxford.
“For the average cancer drug, usually a small proportion of patients respond, and the vast majority do not,” said Professor Nick La Thangue, Professor of Cancer Biology at Oxford’s Department of Oncology. “A small number also become very sick because of the side effects of the drug. Our technology will not only benefit those patients who respond, but we can also avoid treating people with drugs that we know will make them sick. This means we can get the right drug to the right patient.
“Many cancer drugs are expensive and it is difficult to justify widespread usage when we can’t predict if a patient will respond well to a drug. The biomarker approach we are offering through Oxford Cancer Biomarkers provides a way to identify responsive patients.”
“Drug developers can use the technology to design clinical trials which are faster and more likely to have a positive outcome. Regulators and health care providers can be presented with a more compelling justification of the health economics of a treatment.”
Glyn Edwards, Chief Executive of Oxford Cancer Biomarkers said: “This investment by a knowledgeable partner will allow OCB to establish and develop its core technology in Oxford. We expect the technology platform to produce a cascade of predictive biomarkers in the next few years. Quintiles and OCB aim to partner with drug and diagnostic companies to bring the benefits of this technology to a wide range of cancer patients.”
OCB will have a strategic relationship with Quintiles Consulting and Quintiles Global Laboratories, which have capabilities and expertise to operationalise the consulting and biomarker R&D innovations from OCB for the benefit of biopharma globally.
Ben Cons, vice president, Quintiles Corporate Development, commented: “Biomarkers hold great promise to improve clinical trial success rates by identifying patient sub-groups most likely to respond to treatment, increasing the probability of success and improving patient safety.”
Tom Hockaday, Managing Director of Oxford University Innovation, said “Oxford Cancer Biomarkers is a great example of Oxford research with huge potential to improve the treatment of cancer. Isis is delighted to have played a part in supporting its founders and the company.”
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