Oxford Vacmedix UK Ltd announces the appointment of Mark Thomas as Head of Clinical Operations, bringing in-depth expertise in running clinical trials and in pharmaceutical development to Oxford Vacmedix.
Press Release – appointment of Mark Thomas as Head of Clinical Operations
Oxford, 14th June 2021:
Oxford Vacmedix, the UK-based biopharma company focused on the development of cancer vaccines announced today the appointment of Mark Thomas as the Head of Clinical Operations. He was previously working with the company as a consultant but now joins as an employee as the first application for clinical trials of the ROP (recombinant overlapping peptide) vaccines is being made.
William Finch, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Vacmedix said;
“I am delighted to welcome Mark to Oxford Vacmedix at this critical time, as we advance our lead cancer vaccine, OVM-200, into the clinic. Mark has many years of valuable experience in the delivery of clinical trials and in working both for and with Clinical Research Organisations (CROs), with particular expertise in oncology and in early development. In his new role he will be driving our clinical programme to achieve our vision of advancing effective vaccines that address the unmet medical needs of cancer patients.”
Mark Thomas qualified from the University of Surrey in 1996 with a degree in Medical Microbiology. He worked initially for Sandoz and then Novartis as a Clinical Pharmacology Scientist, responsible for setting up, management and monitoring Phase 1 clinical trials. In 2000 he became the Founding Director of Cmed, a new CRO that grew to become a major success story in Europe. Mark was involved with the Cmed until 2013 when he set up as a freelance consultant. He has extensive experience in running clinical trials and in regulatory submissions across a wide range of different therapeutic areas and also across all phases of development.
Mark Thomas commented;
“I am very pleased to be joining Oxford Vacmedix as the Head of Clinical Operations, to run the clinical trials for these novel cancer vaccines. The underlying ROP technology offers a real hope to provide safe and effective therapies to help people with cancer live longer and better lives, and I look forward to contributing to the development programme and to seeing the vaccines in the clinic.”
ENDS
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
William Finch, CEO, Oxford Vacmedix
T: +44 (0)1865 742087 | M: +44(0)7769 903711 | E: wfinch@oxfordvacmedix.com
Notes to the 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 peptides (ROPs) invented by Dr Shisong Jiang. ROPs have been validated as a technology to stimulate broad and strong T cell immunity therefore forming a good platform for cancer therapeutic vaccines and diagnostics.
The technology uses the novel, proprietary platform of ROPs 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 (CBI) that is using the ROP platform in both diagnostics and as adoptive cell therapy.
OVM is developing two lead vaccines, OVM-100 and OVM-200, focusing on unmet clinical need. OVM-100 is an HPV vaccine targeted at cervical and head & neck cancer, and OVM-200 represents a new type of vaccine utilising survivin to target solid tumours. Both vaccines will be tested as single agents and in combination with other IO agents.
OVM secured Series A investment from Cancer ROP, a leading South Korean healthcare institution, and from existing shareholders in China in 2018. The company is currently seeking Series B funding to advance OVM-200 to Phase 2 and OVM-100 into Phase 1 trials, as monotherapy but also in combination with IO agents.
For more information, please visit: https://www.oxfordvacmedix.com
About Cmed
After 20 years of growth, with annual turnover of over £16.0m and over 200 staff, Cmed was acquired by Aixial Group, the CRO arm of the Alten Group in May 2021 for an undisclosed sum. For more information, please visit: https://www.cmedresearch.com