US charity makes equity investment in UK gene therapy specialist

Equity investment

A US charity, the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB), has made an undisclosed upfront payment and an equity investment of $3.9 million in the UK gene therapy company Oxford BioMedica plc as part of an agreement to develop a range of gene therapy products for the treatment of eye diseases.

This builds on the existing agreement with FFB signed in November 2003 for the pre-clinical development of RetinoStat, Oxford BioMedica’s product for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The product has since advanced to the stage where the company plans to file for approval to carry out a US clinical trial in 2007.

The first product in the expanded portfolio will be StarGen, for the treatment of Stargardt disease, the most common juvenile degenerative retinal disease.

Under the collaboration agreement and a separate share subscription agreement, FFB and a consortium of investors will make an undisclosed upfront payment and will also subscribe for up to $3.9m of Oxford BioMedica ordinary shares to fund the development of StarGen. In return FFB and its co-investors will receive a royalty on sales of StarGen.

“We have a strong and successful working relationship with FFB and we are delighted that they, together with a consortium of investors, have recognised the broad potential of Oxford BioMedica’s LentiVector gene delivery system for the treatment of a range of eye diseases,” said Alan Kingsman, Oxford BioMedica’s Chief Executive. “FFB support will ensure that our expanded ocular programme will move quickly towards clinical evaluation.”

Gordon Gund, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board for the FFB said, “Our collaborations with innovative biopharmaceutical companies such as Oxford BioMedica are greatly enhancing our ability to get preventions, treatments, and cures out to the millions of people who need them.”