Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB) is a biopharmaceutical company specialising in the development and commercialisation of novel therapeutic vaccines and gene-based therapies with a focus on the areas of oncology and neurotherapy. The Company was established in 1995 as a spin-out from Oxford University, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The Company has a platform of gene delivery technologies, which are based on highly engineered viral systems. Oxford BioMedica also has in-house clinical, regulatory and manufacturing know-how. In oncology, the lead product candidate is TroVax^®, an immunotherapy for multiple solid cancers, which is being developed and commercialised in collaboration with sanofi-aventis. TroVax is in Phase III development for renal cancer and sanofi-aventis is implementing a development plan for colorectal cancer. Oxford BioMedica's oncology pipeline includes a specific immunotherapy candidate, Hi-8^® MEL, for melanoma, which has completed two clinical trials. In neurotherapy, the Company's lead product, ProSavin^®, is expected to enter clinical development for Parkinson's disease in 2007. The neurotherapy pipeline also includes preclinical gene-based therapeutics for vision loss, motor neuron disease and nerve repair. In addition, the Company has a platform technology for therapeutic vaccines for infectious diseases.

The Company is underpinned by over 80 patent families, which represent one of the broadest patent estates in the field. The Company has a staff of approximately 75 split between its main facilities in Oxford and its wholly owned subsidiary, BioMedica Inc, in San Diego, California. Corporate partnerships include the collaboration on TroVax with sanofi-aventis and on a targeted antibody therapy with Wyeth. Intervet, Sigma-Aldrich, Viragen, MolMed and Virxsys are also corporate partners. Technology licensees include Merck & Co, Biogen Idec, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer.

RetinoStat is the Company's novel gene-based treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR), which are caused by the unregulated and aberrant growth of leaky and disruptive blood vessels in the retina. The product uses the LentiVector® system to deliver two anti-angiogenic genes that block the formation of new blood vessels in the retina. The therapeutic genes, angiostatin and endostatin, have been exclusively licensed by Oxford BioMedica for use in treatments of ocular diseases from Entremed Inc.

Preclinical studies have shown statistically significant efficacy in an industry-standard model of AMD. Additional studies are ongoing at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the USA, in collaboration with a US charity, the Foundation Fighting Blindness. These studies are designed to support a regulatory submission for clinical trials, which are expected to start in 2008.

AMD and DR are major causes of blindness in the developed world. AMD affects an estimated 25 to 30 million people in the western world. Existing treatments for both conditions have to be administered many times over many years by direct injection into the eye. RetinoStat has a potential competitive advantage, as it would require only a single or infrequent administration. Analysts' estimates, published in the Wall Street Journal, suggest that sales of an effective treatment for macular degeneration could exceed US$1 billion per annum.

StarGen is Oxford BioMedica's novel gene-based therapy for the treatment of Stargardt's disease. The disease is caused by a mutation of the ABCR gene which leads to the degeneration of photoreceptors in the retina and vision loss. StarGen uses the Company's LentiVector system to deliver a corrected version of the ABCR gene. It is administered directly to photoreceptors in the retina.

StarGen has shown preclinical efficacy in the only available model of Stargardt's disease. A single administration was effective for the duration of this six-month study. Further preclinical development is ongoing at Columbia University in the USA, in collaboration with the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB), which is also collaborating on the RetinoStat programme, and FFB's support organisation, the National Neurovision Research Institute.

Stargardt's disease is the most common juvenile degenerative retinal disease with a US and EU population of approximately 50,000 cases and an incidence of 1/10,000 (600 new cases per year). There are no current treatment options for patients but, based on prevalence, the commercial market could exceed US$75 million.