The cell and gene therapy company announces plans to raise ₤20.5 million.

Clinical trials with cell and gene therapies are achieving promising results and creating excitement among drug companies and their investors. Two cell therapies were approved in 2017 by FDA - GSK's Strimvelis^TM and Novartis’s Kymriah^TM. Oxford BioMedica’s LentiVector^® delivery platform technology is playing a significant role in the development of new cell and gene therapies. The company has licensed products and technology rights to Sanofi and technology rights to GSK, for instance. Oxford BioMedica also has strong partnerships with Immune Design and Orchard Therapeutics, providing them with access to its intellectual property, state-of-the-art production facilities, and expertise, according to the company. 

The LentiVector^® platform is a lentiviral-based gene delivery system designed to overcome the safety and delivery challenges associated with earlier generation vectors. It can handle large therapeutic payloads, enables permanent modification of dividing and non-dividing cells and comes with no pre-existing immunity. It can be used for T-cell based therapies in which cell division is important, as well as in the treatment of brain and eye diseases in which non-dividing cells are involved. The platform technology is also used in transgenesis, stem cell manipulation, somatic disease modeling, target validation and gene discovery research efforts.

In early March, Oxford BioMedica announced that it plans to raise ₤20.5 million through an accelerated share book build process. The funds will be used to construct four new GMP vector suites, fill and finish suites and warehouse and office space. Noted Oxford BioMedica Chief Executive John Dawson: "This fundraise will allow us to exploit our market leading position by giving us the capacity to service this rapidly growing market that is expected to be worth USD800 million annually, by 2026."