PROGRESS MADE IN NERVE REPAIR PROGRAMME ISSUE OF SHARES TO KING’S COLLEGE LONDON

[Jeremy]

PROGRESS MADE IN NERVE REPAIR PROGRAMME ISSUE OF SHARES TO KING'S COLLEGE LONDON

Oxford, United Kingdom - 13 December 2001. Oxford BioMedica plc (LSE:OXB) ("BioMedica") announced today the achievement of research milestones in its collaboration with King's College London in the field of nerve regeneration, and the issue of shares in Oxford BioMedica to King's College London.

The collaboration was formed in February 2001 between Oxford BioMedica and Professor Malcolm Maden's research team at the Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King's College London. The research combines BioMedica's LentiVector, gene delivery system with the RARb2 gene, which is associated with nerve regeneration, from King's College London. The work undertaken to date has successfully demonstrated the ability to stimulate the growth of adult nerve cells for a longer period than the King's College London research team has ever observed previously. The team has been working in the area of nerve regeneration for over 10 years.


Under the terms of a separate agreement, also signed in February 2001, King's College London has made a further equity investment in Oxford BioMedica, subscribing for a total of 584,510 ordinary shares of 1p each at 25.6625 pence per share. Following the allotment of these shares the shareholding by King's College London in Oxford BioMedica will be 757,194 shares, representing 0.32% of the issued share capital.


Commenting on the developments, Chief Executive Professor Alan Kingsman said: "Considerable progress has been made with this programme. Although still at an early stage, our collaboration with King's College London has moved closer to the development of a treatment for nerve repair in spinal injury and in neuropathies associated with diseases, such as diabetes and vascular disorders."


Notes to Editors


1. Oxford BioMedica plc


Established in 1995, the Company specialises in the application of gene-based technology to the development of novel therapeutics. Its three principal activities are in the fields of gene therapy, immunotherapy and genomics, and its principal therapeutic areas are in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Oxford BioMedica plc was floated on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in December 1996, and upgraded to the United Kingdom Listing Authority Official List in April 2001 following a successful £35.5 million fund-raising.


Oxford BioMedica has operating centres in Oxford, UK and San Diego, USA


Currently Oxford BioMedica has corporate collaborations with Aventis, AstraZeneca, IDM, Nycomed Amersham, Valentis, Virbac and Wyeth. BioMedica has two products in Phase I/II clinical trials: MetXia® for late-stage breast cancer, and TroVax® for late-stage colorectal cancer.


2. King's College


London King's is one of the two oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with some 12,200 undergraduate students and over 4,500 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The College is among the UK's top four higher education institutions for the number of highest-rated subject-areas for research quality. It is in the top group of five universities for research earnings and has an annual turnover of £285 million and research income from grants and contracts in excess of £80 million (1999-2000).


3. LentiVector®


In gene therapy, the aim is to deliver a gene and its necessary regulatory elements (the gene construct) to the cell surface, using a vector to mediate the transfer across the cell membrane and, in some cases, into the nucleus. LentiVector® is a new and increasingly powerful vector system based on lentiviruses, which have similar features to retroviruses in the ease of manipulation, predictable integration and reliable gene expression and regulation. However, their main advantage over retroviruses is the ability to function in non-dividing cells or cells that are dividing slowly - a feature of many clinically important tissues including the central and peripheral nervous systems.


Oxford BioMedica is a leader in the development and application of lentiviral vectors. Its proprietary LentiVector® technology is protected by international patents, including recently granted US and European patents.


4. World Wide Web


This release is also available on the World Wide Web at http://www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk

"If the wind could blow my troubles away. I'd stand in front of a hurricane."

[Jeff]

For the most vague press release in the history of medical research. Geez, I sound like DA. Well, not quite.

~See you at the SCIWire-used-to-be-paralyzed Reunion ~

[mk99]

This was issued back in December... human trials within 12 months? Anyone hear anything new? Here's the release:



Oxford BioMedica Says It Will Start Nerve Repair Therapy Trials Within a Year

By Richard Woodman

LONDON (Reuters health) Dec 15 - British gene therapy company Oxford BioMedica said on Monday it was on track to start clinical trials next year of a novel therapy designed to restore nerve function after spinal cord injuries.

It said early pre-clinical work in mice showed that its Innurex product induced a high level of nerve regrowth, indicating its potential to be a first-in-class product for nerve repair.

Innurex uses a viral vector to carry the RAR B2 gene to nerve cells at the injury site, causing them to grow and forge new nerve connections.

Prof. Alan Kingsman, chief executive, said in a statement that proof of principle had been established in less than two years and the product was now "on course for clinical development within the next 12 months".

He told Reuters Health it would be administered to patients who had just been injured after an accident rather than to patients who had long been paralysed, because old scars at the injury site may impede nerve repair.

Kingsman said nerve regrowth in the animal experiments was "an order of magnitude greater" with Innurex compared with the results of other groups using other nerve repair mechanisms.

The company acquired exclusive rights to the RAR B2 gene from King's College London where the initial observation that this gene could programme nerve cells to regrow in vitro was made.

Professor Malcolm Maden, head of the King's programme, said: "The combination of the RAR B2 gene and the very efficient LentiVector delivery system has produced a high level of axon regrowth. There is every chance that this is enough for restoration of function to damaged nerves and the company should have functional data shortly".

The company, whose shares rose 5% after the announcement, said the pre-clinical data were being presented at a conference in California and would be sent for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Source

[Clark]

it seems like it will only be used in "new" injuries

[gettinup]

sounds exciting. I went to there website and read some stuff..report

[spaceboy]

20 April 2004

OXFORD BIOMEDICA
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2004


"...Preclinical development of MoNuDin™ for the treatment of motor neuron disease and SMN-1G for spinal muscular atrophy is progressing according to plan. Today the Company is announcing that its Innurex® programme for nerve regeneration in spinal cord injury has been awarded $150,000 from the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation. The Company has recently generated encouraging preclinical data with Innurex demonstrating aspects of nerve repair in models of stretch injury. As stated in the 2003 Annual Report, data that show restoration of limb function following injury is expected around mid-2004.

...The Company has continued to make clinical and technical progress and has achieved further product endorsement from independent funding organisations. The award of the Christopher Reeve grant means that Oxford BioMedica now has five of its seven products supported by independent research or charitable organisations."

stretch injury?

"The essense of Greatness is the Perception that courage is enough." R. Waldo Emerson