Oxford BioTherapeutics Announces Launch of Enhanced Discovery Platform, OGAP®-Verify, at World ADC Conference 2024

• OGAP®-Verify allows for significantly enhanced sensitivity and specificity for improved target selection, dramatically accelerating drug target discovery
• OGAP-Verify is now more sensitive than Immunohistochemistry (IHC), measuring membrane proteins as low as 50 copies-per-cell in patient biopsies with quantitative mass spectrometry; this removes the ambiguities of IHC antibody specificity and sensitivity
• OBT will also present two posters focussing on OGAP-Verify for novel target discovery and cancer specific splice-variant discovery at the 14th Annual World ADC Conference in London

Oxford, UK, San Jose, Calif., 7^th March 2024 – Oxford BioTherapeutics (‘OBT’), a clinical stage oncology company with a pipeline of immuno-oncology and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)-based therapies, today announces significant technological advances to its drug discovery platform OGAP® with a new version to be launched at the 14th Annual World ADC Conference in London named OGAP®-Verify. OBT will also present two posters focusing on OGAP-Verify’s capacity to identify novel cancer-specific targets for the development of first-in-class therapies, particularly ADCs and other therapeutic antibodies, addressing unmet clinical needs in oncology.

“I am delighted to announce major technological advances with the launch of OBT’s OGAP-Verify target discovery platform. OGAP-verify is now more sensitive than IHC and allows for enhanced sensitivity with improved target selection, solving some of the challenges in antibody specificity,” said Christian Rohlff, CEO, Oxford BioTherapeutics. “OBT is dedicated to discovering and validating the next generation of ADC targets for safe and effective medicines. The OGAP-Verify platform’s enhanced sensitivity, specificity, and reliability will significantly accelerate biopharma’s capabilities to identify and validate human targets with robust scientific support. Our commitment to leveraging OGAP capabilities underscores our dedication to advancing the forefront of cancer therapy development.”

“We are very pleased to have a significant company presence at this year’s World ADC Conference with Dr Ben Thomas presenting OGAP-Verify together with two posters highlighting the enhanced target discovery and validation capabilities of OGAP-Verify. We are very much looking forward to meeting peers in the industry and discussing the latest science that could have significant positive impacts for patients.”

Despite recent progress in ADC development, only 10% of cancer patients are eligible for treatment with existing ADCs with ADC-target expression on patient tumors a major factor in patient eligibility. However, the majority of ADCs in development target the same nine proteins as those already approved. Leveraging OGAP®-Verify, OBT can identify first-in-class targets to treat patients who are currently ineligible for existing treatments. With its enhanced sensitivity, OGAP-Verify can detect protein expression levels as low as 50 copies-per-cell (which is more sensitive than IHC), uncovering targets missed by mRNA analysis. Moreover, it provides insights into normal tissue expression improving target selection and accelerating the drug target discovery process. By evaluating factors such as therapeutic index, protein abundance and benchmarking against known clinical ADC targets during target selection, OGAP®-Verify enhances the likelihood of success in ADC development.  

Details of the presentations are as follows:

Presentation

• Title: Oxford Biotherapeutics’ OGAP Target Discovery Platform: Use of Quantitative Membrane Tissue Proteomics to Identify new ADC Drug Target
• Session: Track 1 Discovery Chemistry – Next-Generation Approaches to Target Selection: Advancing ADC Precision for Improved Delivery & Reduced Toxicity
• Presenter: Benjamin Thomas, Senior VP External Innovation
• Date/Time: 13 March 2024, from 18:35 GMT

Poster No. 30

• Title: Addressing Unmet Clinical Oncology Needs Through A Novel Therapeutic ADC Target Space in Cancer Patient Tissue Biopsies Using OGAP-Verify.
• Authors: Abigail Houghton et al.
• Date/Time: 13 March 2024, from 18:00 GMT

Poster No. 30 describes the innovative use of the OGAP-Verify Membrane Protein Expression Database and its ability to identify novel therapeutic targets for ADCs by analyzing membrane protein expression in patient tissues. OGAP-Verify is the world’s largest quantitative membrane protein expression library generated using proteomics. Among other applications, it is used to identify targets overexpressed in cancers that are otherwise overlooked when using mRNA-based discovery techniques.

Poster No. 31

• Title: Identification of Novel Cancer-Specific Splice Variants Using Oxford Biotherapeutics’ Ultra-High Sensitivity Tissue Membrane Proteomics Database, OGAP-Verify, for First-in-class ADCs and Other Therapeutic Antibodies.
• Authors: Somdatta Basu et al.
• Date/Time: 13 March 2024, from 18:00 GMT

Poster No. 31 describes OBT’s use of its proprietary proteomic discovery platform, OGAP-Verify, to identify novel cancer-specific splice variants for the development of first-in-class therapies, including ADCs and Immuno-Oncology (IO) agents. OBT is conducting complex analyses to identify clean, novel cancer-specific protein targets bypassing the limitations of mRNA-based approaches.

OBT is a Partner of the Annual World ADC Conference 2024 in London, UK.

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About Oxford BioTherapeutics

Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT) is a clinical stage oncology company with a pipeline of first-in-class immuno-oncology (IO) and antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) based therapies designed to fulfil major unmet patient needs in cancer therapeutics. These include bispecific, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell (CAR-T), Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) and Antibody Dependent Cell-mediated Cytotoxicity (ADCC) therapeutics.

OBT’s lead clinical program, OBT076, initiated expansion in a US Clinical Trial in 2021 in patients with advanced or refractory solid tumors, including gastric, bladder, ovarian and lung cancer, where CD205 is overexpressed. Infiltration of tumors by immunosuppressive cells correlates with adverse outcomes (lower progression free and overall survival), suggesting that this process contributes to the progression of several cancers.

OBT’s proprietary OGAP® target discovery platform is based on one of the world’s largest proprietary cancer membrane proteomic databases, with data on over 5,000 cancer cell proteins providing unique, highly qualified oncology targets, of which three programs are in clinical development in the US and Europe. OBT’s IO discovery process provides unique insights into the cancer-immune cell synapse and has identified several novel IO monoclonal and bispecific antibody candidates for cancer therapies.

OBT’s pipeline and development capabilities have been validated through multiple strategic partnerships including with Boehringer Ingelheim, ImmunoGen and our cell therapy research collaboration with Kite Pharma as well as other world leaders in antibody development (such as Amgen, WuXi, Medarex (BMS), Alere (Abbott) and BioWa). OBT has a strong oncology focused management team and board with significant experience in developing IO and antibody-based therapies.

For more information on Oxford BioTherapeutics, please visit www.oxfordbiotherapeutics.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Contacts

For OBT
Investors:
Dr Christian Rohlff, CEO
christian.r@oxfordbiotherapeutics.com

Media:
MEDiSTRAVA
Sylvie Berrebi, Sandi Greenwood, Erica Hollingsworth
E : OBT@medistrava.com
 T : +44 (0) 203 928 6900 ​