OXFORD BIOMEDICA

At the recent international gene therapy meeting in Cold Spring Harbor, USA, Oxford BioMedica revealed how additional development work that they had successfully completed on the Hypoxia Response Element (HRE) has improved the performance of this key element of their gene technology toolbox. These improvements could lead to HRE being incorporated into many of the gene therapy treatments currently being developed for the treatment of important diseases such as heart disease.

Since acquiring the HRE technology last year, Oxford BioMedica has made significant improvements to the system in order that it will work more efficiently and in conjunction with a wide range of viral vectors over and above the retroviral and lentiviral vectors being developed in-house. This means that the HRE will have a central role to play in switching on and off genes, in response to low oxygen conditions, in a much wider range of therapeutic applications than was envisaged when the technology was acquired. There could be significant beneficial applications of the HRE technology in gene therapy approaches to treating heart disease and other cardiovascular conditions as well as in cancer.

Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive of Oxford BioMedica commented: "The magnificent job that our scientists have done in successfully developing HRE means that it can now be used to add value and improve the effectiveness of virtually all vector systems being developed currently".

"In its original form we conceived HRE as being applicable to the treatment of cancer and in the design of screening systems for anti-cancer drugs. It is now clear that HRE is much more versatile and can be used also for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and inflammation. Indeed, we have already been approached by several of the leading players in the gene therapy arena to discuss the potential for incorporating HRE in their own therapeutic programmes. This could lead to a significant source of income for the company in terms of licence fees and potential royalty streams as new products incorporating our HRE are registered for use."

Technical information on the role of HRE can be provided on request.

2. Oxford BioMedica's XiaProGen™ technology provides a means of selectively switching on genes in hypoxic, low oxygen, regions. It is based on the use of the Hypoxia Response Element, a region of DNA that controls gene expression and responds specifically to low oxygen concentrations.