18 Jun 2010 07:00
OXFORD BIOMEDICA ANNOUNCES AMENDMENT TO 5T4 LICENCE AGREEMENT WITH CANCER RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY
AND ISSUE OF SHARES
Oxford, UK - 18 June 2010: Oxford BioMedica (LSE:OXB), a leading gene therapy company, announced today that it has signed an amendment to its licence agreement with Cancer Research Technology (CRT) covering the use and exploitation of the 5T4 antigen used in TroVax®, Oxford BioMedica's therapeutic cancer vaccine, the antibody being developed by Pfizer, and other potential applications.
The original licence was signed in 1996 and previously amended in 2000. This second amendment clarifies the timing of royalty payments due to CRT.
Under the amended agreement, royalty payments that had been due to CRT relating to amounts received under the sanofi-aventis TroVax agreement (signed March 2007 and terminated April 2009) will now be settled, but payment will be staged according to agreed TroVax commercial and clinical milestones. An initial cash payment of £100,000 will be made to CRT, together with the issue of Oxford BioMedica shares valued at £185,316. The balance of the royalty payable to CRT in respect of the sanofi-aventis TroVax receipts will become payable when specified future commercial and clinical milestone events occur.
Accordingly Oxford BioMedica will issue a total of 1,807,961 new ordinary shares of 1p each at £0.1025p per share.The new shares will rank pari passu in all respects with Oxford BioMedica's existing Ordinary Shares. Application will be made to the United Kingdom Listing Authority ('UKLA') for the newly issued ordinary shares in Oxford BioMedica to be admitted to the Official List of the UKLA and to the London Stock Exchange plc for admission to trading on its market for listed securities. The shares are expected to commence trading on 23 June 2010.
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| For further information, please contact: |
|
| Oxford BioMedica plc: John Dawson, Chief Executive Officer |
Tel: +44 (0)1865 783 000 |
| JPMorgan Cazenove Limited: James Mitford/ Gina Gibson |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7588 2828 |
| Media/Financial Enquiries: Emma Thompson/ Rob Newman/ Ben Simons M:Communications |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7920 2342
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| US Enquiries: Thomas Fechtner The Trout Group LLC |
Tel: (646) 378 2900 |
Notes to editors
1. Oxford BioMedica®
Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB) is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative gene-based medicines and therapeutic vaccines that aim to improve the lives of patients with high unmet medical needs. The Company's technology platform includes a highly efficient gene delivery system (LentiVector®), which has specific advantages for targeting diseases of the central nervous system and the eye; and a unique tumour antigen (5T4), which is an ideal target for anti-cancer therapy. Through in-house and collaborative research, Oxford BioMedica has a broad pipeline and its partners include sanofi-aventis, Sigma-Aldrich and Pfizer. Technology licensees include Biogen Idec, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co and Pfizer. Further information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk
2. Cancer Research Technology
Cancer Research Technology Limited (CRT) is a specialist commercialisation and development company, which aims to develop new discoveries in cancer research for the benefit of cancer patients. CRT works closely with leading international cancer scientists and their institutes to protect intellectual property arising from their research and to establish links with commercial partners. CRT facilitates the discovery, development and marketing of new cancer therapeutics, vaccines, diagnostics and enabling technologies. CRT is wholly owned by Cancer Research UK, the largest independent funder of cancer research in the world. Further information is available at www.cancertechnology.com
Oxford Biomedica (OXB)