OXFORD BIOMEDICA PLC

Oxford, UK, 23 April 1999. Details of a number of Oxford BioMedica's clinical and research programmes were presented at two separate International Conferences in the US last week.
 
At the 90th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), attended by around 7000 delegates from around the world, Professor Adrian Harris of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford, described the hypoxia response element (HRE) and its role in using hypoxia signalling for targeting cancers as part of a gene therapy approach to treatment. In his presentation, Professor Harris outlined some of the key technologies that Oxford BioMedica is using as part of its oncology treatment programme. The HRE, which can switch genes on and off in response to levels of oxygen, is a control mechanism that Oxford BioMedica developed and has incorporated into a number of its gene therapy constructs. The HRE was the subject of a collaborative deal with Rhône-Poulenc Rorer Gencell worth US$18 million in milestone and upfront payments signed in December 1998.
 
In addition, Professor Harris discussed two of Oxford BioMedica's novel gene delivery systems; the retroviral vector XiaGen and MacroGen; the cell mediated gene delivery system.
 
In a separate presentation at the International Conference on Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology, attended by over 500 delegates in San Francisco last week, Professor Alan Kingsman, Chief Executive of Oxford BioMedica, presented data on codon-optimised lentiviral vectors for the treatment of HIV. Oxford BioMedica has established a world-leadership position in developing lentiviral vectors, in addition to retroviral vectors, such as XiaProGen. Lentiviruses are capable of transferring genes into slowly dividing or non-dividing cells without causing the inflammation associated with many adenoviral vectors. This gives Lentiviral vectors a unique potential as part of a gene therapy approach for treating a range of diseases including neurodegenerative disease.