Oxford Vacmedix receives an Investor Partnership award from Innovate UK for the clinical development of lead cancer vaccine OVM-200.
Oxford, UK _ 9 January 2025
Press Release – Innovate UK Award 09-Jan-25
Oxford Vacmedix (OVM), the UK-based biopharma company developing vaccines to treat cancer, confirmed today the grant of a prestigious Investor Partnership award from Innovate UK for the clinical development of its lead cancer vaccine OVM-200. The award is made as part of the SME Round 6 programme and will contribute to the project costs for Phase 1b for OVM-200. This phase of the trial will enroll a cohort of cancer patients to be treated with an extended dosing protocol newly approved by the UK MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency). The award underpins OVM in attracting inward investment from outside the UK. As previously announced, this has now been achieved with the lead Series B investment from major shareholder Dx&Vx from South Korea, and with additional funding from Prostate Cancer Research. OVM will receive the award over the duration of the project.
OVM-200 targets survivin, a protein overexpressed by cancer cells that allow unregulated growth, which stimulates an immune response. The vaccine is in a Phase 1 trial in the UK which is both the first time OVM-200 has been used in people and also the first time any ROP (Recombinant Overlapping Peptide) based vaccine has been tested in the clinic. The ongoing trial is focused on safety and on establishing an immune response in advanced cancer patients in three cancer indications: non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), prostate cancer, and ovarian cancer. Initial results from Phase 1a, the dose escalation part of the trial, have shown very good safety and a strong immune response.
Partnership
OVM has a long partnership with Innovate UK and excellent track record of grants, both directly and as part of collaborations. This latest award adds to the support from Innovate UK to develop OVM’s novel groundbreaking ROP technology.
William Finch, CEO of OVM said:
This non-dilutive award from Innovate UK is hugely helpful to fund the ongoing clinical development of OVM-200 and demonstrates real confidence in our ROP technology. We are very pleased with the initial results from Phase 1a and look forward to the completion of this trial to help patients with advanced cancers.
Dr Anthony Coombs, Chairman added:
We are delighted to have this support from Innovate UK for the development of OVM-200 and to be able to incentivise inward investment into the company. The strength of UK technology is regonised worldwide and the recombinant overlapping peptides we are developing have real potential to help patients with cancer, both alone and in combination.
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For more information or to express an interest in investing in Series B, please contact:
William Finch, CEO, Oxford Vacmedix
T: +44 (0)1865 742087 | M: +44(0)7769 903711 | E: wfinch@oxfordvacmedix.com
Notes to Editor
About Oxford Vacmedix
Oxford Vacmedix UK Ltd, based at the Oxford Science Park, UK, is a bio-pharma company that was spun out from the University of Oxford’s Department of Oncology and is utilising the novel proprietary platform technology of recombinant overlapping peptide (ROP) invented by Professor Shisong Jiang. ROP has been validated as a technology to stimulate broad and strong T cell immunity, therefore forming a good platform for therapeutic vaccines and diagnostics in cancer and infectious diseases.
The technology uses the novel, proprietary platform of ROP to design and develop therapeutic cancer vaccines and diagnostics with the potential for increased efficacy, lower costs, simpler regulatory pathways, and synergy when used in combination with other immune oncology (IO) agents. The company has extensive contacts and collaborations in China through Changzhou Bioscience Group (CBIG) that is using the ROP platform for diagnostics in both cancer and infectious diseases.
OVM is developing two lead vaccines, OVM-100 and OVM-200, focusing on unmet clinical need. OVM-100 is an HPV vaccine targeting cervical cancer and head and neck cancer and OVM-200 is a new type of vaccine utilising survivin to target solid tumours including prostate, ovarian, and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Both vaccines will be tested as a single agent and in combination with IO agents. OVM has strong pipeline with a diagnostic for anti-microbial resistance being tested and two other cancer vaccines in preclinical development.
OVM secured Series A and more recently lead Series B investment from Dx&Vx (formerly Cancer ROP), a listed South Korean biotech company, and from other existing shareholders. The company is currently seeking further Series B funding to advance OVM-200 to Phase 2 and OVM-100 into Phase 1 trials, as monotherapy and also in combination. In addition, the option of using mRNA delivery with the ROP technology is also being explored.
For more information: https://www.oxfordvacmedix.com
About Innovate UK
Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency helping UK businesses to grow through innovation.
The government’s vision is for the UK to be a global hub for innovation by 2035.
Innovates UK’s mission in achieving that is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.
For more information: https://www.ukri.org
