About Us

We develop therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer based on the invention of Professor Shisong Jiang – Recombinant Overlapping Peptides (ROP)

What We Do

Established in 2012 as a spinout from Oxford University. Its aim is to develop therapeutic agents for the treatment of cancer based on the invention of Professor Shisong Jiang – Recombinant Overlapping Peptides (ROP).

These agents are an exciting new way to deliver immunotherapy which is now a major focus in the treatment of cancer, making it easier to deliver, more effective and much more economical.

Immunotherapy is effective by activating the immune system to attack tumours directly thus reducing the need for invasive treatments such as chemo and radiotherapy.

Oxford Vacmedix was featured in an ITN Business series on Advancing Immunology: watch the video here.

Investment Opportunity

Oxford Vacmedix is currently engaged with Series B fundraising for equity investment. The company is looking to raise $35m plus. Funds will be used to accelerate the development of the lead cancer vaccines, OVM-200 and OVM-100, and to finish development and to commercialise the novel diagnostic test for anti-microbial resistance. For more information contact wfinch@oxfordvacmedix.com or acoombs@oxfordvacmedix.com

partnering outlook

Oxford Vacmedix is keen to partner with pharmaceutical companies interested in co-developing the ROP technology, NHS hospitals to participate in clinical trials of the lead vaccines, and firms that can sequence tumour mutations against which it can design personalised vaccines (neoantigens).  The Company is also interested in collaborating with leading pharma companies that can provide checkpoint inhibitors suitable for combination with the novel ROP vaccines.

Management Team

Dr Anthony Coombs

Executive chairman

Tony has a DPhil from Oxford in Chemistry and 30 years commercial experience in pharmaceutical development including work in Astra Zeneca Oncology, at MerckSerono and as CEO of Vifor Pharma. 

He led the commercial development of Iressa for lung cancer and has wide experience working with oncology start-up companies, in Board roles and as a consultant. Tony has previously held roles in the NHS and is a Trustee for a lung cancer charity.

William Finch

Chief Executive Officer

After graduating from Oxford in Biochemistry William has over 34 years experience in the Biotech sector with a particular focus on leading SMEs. 

Previous companies include R&D Systems, Amersham International, British Biotech and Beckman Coulter alongside small start-ups following outsourcing strategies where relevant.

Professor Shisong Jiang

Chief Scientific Officer and Founder

Professor Jiang is a globally renowned immunologist from Oxford University with previous experience at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in the USA. 

He pioneered the concept of Recombinant Overlapping Peptides as therapeutic vaccines and has led all the development work vested in the company. 

He has a strong record in translational science, with both therapeutics and diagnostics in clinical trials, and holds a Senior Industrial Fellowship at the University of Oxford.

Louisa Dawson

Company Secretary and Finance Manager

Louisa qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PwC in 2003.  She then held positions as Financial Controller at Innovision Research & Technology plc, Customer Service Finance at Thames Water and Management Accountant at Longfield Hospice. 

She now manages the accounting function of OVM UK and provides company secretarial support to the Board.

Development Team

Dr Thomas Morris

Chief Medical Officer

Dr Thomas Morris is a physician who has worked in drug development for over 20 years, specialising in oncology.  He has worked for Medeval Ltd (University of Manchester) and AstraZeneca, overseeing several global drug development programmes.

He has a BSc in Physiology from the University of Wales, medical degrees from the University of Wales College of Medicine, and his Master of Laws degree from Cardiff Law School.  He is a Fellow and Board member of The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine, a former chair of its Ethical Issues committee and a member of its Professional Standards Committee.

Mark Thomas

Head of Clinical Operations

Mark has a BSc. (Hons) in Medical Microbiology from the University of Surrey and over 25 years industry experience across pharmaceutical and clinical research organisations (CROs).

He was previously a founding director/Board member of a medium size CRO and also held senior clinical operations roles at Swiss and US Pharma companies. Mark has extensive experience leading global oncology clinical studies.

Debra Nevin PhD (Amethyst Pharma Ltd)

Manufacturing

Debra is a freelance CMC Consultant who specialises in Biologics manufacturing development for clinical trial material from early stage through to late stage development. Experienced in CDMO outsourcing and manufacturing project management, with over 25 years’ experience in CMC technical and Quality support.

Karine Frimat photo

Karine Frimat (DLRC Ltd)

Regulatory

Karine Frimat is a senior Regulatory Consultant at DLRC, a specialist consultancy providing high quality regulatory services to a wide range of clients. Karine has a over 15 years experience in Regulatory Affairs. She has a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Bath and developed a strong regulatory CMC knowledge working for various pharmaceutical companies.  Prior to joining DLRC, she worked from Amgen where she built her biologic experience.  Karine supports a wide variety of projects at all stages of product life cycles.

Lisa Mynheer

Technical Support Manager

Lisa has been providing sector specific business support to start-ups, SME’s and their leaders in life sciences for over 20 years.  She specialises in helping businesses to exploit their innovations and grow. Lisa provides project management and technical support to projects and the CEO.  She holds a BSc. in Combined Science from the University of Leicester and a Post Graduate Certificate in Coaching and Facilitation in Organisations from the University of Chester.  She was previously Operations Director at Oxford Bio-Innovation Ltd, and Senior Consultant and Business Coach at Oxford Innovation Ltd, as well as running her own Coaching and Innovation advisory business.

Contact us

If you want to have a quick chat, or leave us some feedback,
you can contact us using any of the methods below