Sector News

Oxford Biomedica strikes ‘transformational’ $90m deal with Novartis

October 10, 2014
Life sciences
An Oxford biotech company has landed a leading role in the quest to cure aggressive cancers using supercharged “killer” immune cells.
 
Oxford Biomedica has struck a deal worth up to $90m (£55m) with Novartis to develop and manufacture materials needed for a highly experimental cancer research programme at the Swiss drug giant.
 
Novartis is developing a form of cancer treatment that involves genetically re-programming the body’s “killer” immune cells, arming them with extra weaponry to wipe out tumours. The supercharged cells are known as chimeric antigen receptor T-cells, or CARTs. The Novartis programme is one of the most advanced of its kind and is a top priority for the Swiss drug maker.
 
Oxford Biomedica’s role is to develop and manufacture the so-called “viral lentivectors” that carry out the genetic modification at the heart of the process.
 
It first teamed up with Novartis last year in a £4m deal to manufacture viral lentivectors for the programme.
But Friday’s deal marks a much more significant tie-up between the two companies.
 
Under the terms of the new agreement, Novartis will pay $14m upfront, including $4.3m for a 2.8pc equity stake in Oxford Biomedica. It has also agreed to a series of royalty agreements at certain development milestones, bringing the total potential value of the deal to $90m.
 
In return, Oxford Biomedica will manufacture tailor-made viral lentivectors for Novartis for an initial three-year period, and the pair will work together to further develop the technology. Novartis will also get the exclusive rights to Oxford Biomedica’s CART-producing viral lentivectors.
 
John Dawson, Oxford Biomedica chief executive, told the Telegraph the deal was “transformational” for the company, which has operated at a loss since its founding in 1995.
 
“We hoped it would lead to this from the first deal, and had to work for a year to make sure we could do what we promised,” he said.
 
He added that, should all go to plan, the proceeds of the tie-up could make Oxford Biomedica cash flow positive by the end of 2016.
 
Oxford Biomedica has repeatedly tapped investors for fresh cash to fund its research programme into gene therapies for use in certain eye diseases, neurological conditions and cancers.
 
Until now, the company’s revenues from manufacturing and licensing agreements have been too small to offset the research spend. But Mr Dawson said the Novartis deal could bring the company “financial freedom”.
“If all goes to plan then the assumption is there will be no need to go back to the market again,” he said.
Mr Dawson said he expected Novartis to take the manufacture of viral lentivectors into its own hands eventually, but that Oxford Biomedica would still benefit from royalty payments since it owns the intellectual property for the process.
 

comments closed

Related News

November 26, 2023

ViCentra links insulin pump with Dexcom, Diabeloop tech to launch closed-loop diabetes system in Europe

Life sciences

Hybrid closed-loop systems rely on an algorithm to first analyze real-time blood sugar readings from a continuous glucose monitor, then use the results to adjust an insulin pump’s output as needed throughout the day. In this case, the algorithm was developed by Diabeloop, the CGM is a Dexcom G6 sensor, and the insulin pump comes from ViCentra.

November 26, 2023

Boehringer builds out cancer capabilities with $500M deal for bacteria-focused Swiss biotech

Life sciences

Boehringer Ingelheim has acquired bacterial cancer therapy company T3 Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could be worth up to 450 million Swiss francs ($508 million). The addition of Allschwil, Switzerland-based T3 will “significantly expand” the German drugmaker’s immuno-oncology pipeline and aligns with some of the company’s existing R&D programs.

November 26, 2023

EuroAPI completes acquisition of BianoGMP

Life sciences

EuroAPI has completed the acquisition of BianoGMP, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in oligonucleotides. The acquisition, announced in August, further differentiates its value proposition to support a broader client base across the whole oligonucleotide development continuum, from research to commercialization, EuroAPI said.

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach