Press Release: Oxford, UK - 24 April 2023
IngenOx Therapeutics Zabadinostat Approved by Hong Kong Drug Office to Start Liver Cancer Clinical Trial
IngenOx Therapeutics, the Oxford biopharma company announced today that the Hong Kong Drug Office had given approval for a Phase II clinical trial to proceed in treatment-resistant hepatocellular cancer (HCC) patients, combining its drug zabadinostat with an immune checkpoint inhibitor.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are being increasingly used in the treatment of advanced HCC liver cancer. Although some patients show lasting responses, the development of resistance to therapy is common. Collaborative academic research has shown that IngenOx’s zabadinostat reverses resistance to immune checkpoint resistance in pre-clinical HCC models.
These results provide a scientific rationale for the clinical development of zabadinostat in combination with an ICI, as a therapy for liver cancer which has become resistant to checkpoint blockade therapy. IngenOx is supporting the Phase II clinical trial which is designed to test the safety and effectiveness of zabadinostat combined with a checkpoint inhibitor in ICI-resistant HCC patients, compared with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor such as lenvatinib or sorafenib.
Obtaining Hong Kong Drug Office Approval and issuing the Clinical Trial Certificate is a key milestone in moving the study towards to first-patient-in.
David Kerr, CMO of IngenOx and Professor of Cancer Medicine at the University of Oxford, commented:
“The compelling findings from the pre-clinical studies give us increased confidence that we can recapitulate these encouraging results in man. Our sophisticated trial design will give us clinical data to seek accelerated approval from the regulatory authorities but stay true to our commitment to precision medicine by generating additional potential biomarkers to further improve clinical outcomes.”
Notes:
About IngenOx Therapeutics
IngenOx Therapeutics is a bio-pharmaceutical company focused on delivering new precision medicine drugs and vaccines to treat the most difficult cancers, often referred to as cold tumours. It is a spinout from the University of Oxford, and is located in the Oxford Science Park, UK. Its pipeline comprises early to late-stage products that work in different ways to activate the immune response against clinically unmet cancers, and which are generally poorly recognised by the immune system. An exciting proprietary platform technology focusses on precision cancer vaccines that act by targeting the immune response to a novel source of cancer antigens.
The company’s approach seeks to align the right drug with the right patient enabling a targeted precision medicine approach to cancer therapy. It has also built a proprietary platform around re-educating the body’s immune system to recognise and destroy tumours. The assets in its pipeline have displayed convincing clinical benefits to late-stage cancer patients through disease control, tumour shrinkage, reduced side effects, and extended survival times.
In 2016, the company secured institutional investment from a consortium of South Korean investors to advance its oncology assets. In 2019, additional investment was received from JW Pharmaceuticals, Oxford Science Enterprises, and a number of private investors. In 2020, the company incorporated SynOx Therapeutics, which was later spun out after securing investment from a group of European blue-chip VCs. It has signed global license partnerships with AstraZeneca and Roche.
Press Release: Oxford, UK - 7 March 2023
IngenOx Therapeutics Drug Zabadinostat Enhances the Immune Response
IngenOx Therapeutics, the clinical stage Oxford biopharma company announced today the results of collaborative work between the University of Oxford using its zabadinostat drug. In experimental models, zabadinostat was found to potentiate both the cellular and humoral arms of the adaptive immune response. Most significantly, zabadinostat enhanced the adaptive immune response against the COVID19 virus vaccine. This remarkable property was observed in otherwise healthy animals and therefore argues that zabadinostat can be deployed clinically to enhance the immune response against vaccines.
The study, published in Communications Biology (https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-04485-y), showed that zabadinostat treatment increased the activity of different arms of the immune response, including dendritic cells, and caused enhanced levels of antigen-specific T lymphocytes. Further, zabadinostat stimulated the level of neutralising antibodies and T lymphocytes targeting the COVID19 spike protein during vaccination.
Nick La Thangue, CEO of IngenOx, and Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Oxford commented:
“Our results argue strongly that zabadinostat has potential to augment diverse therapeutic agents that act through the immune system. A new angle to our focus will now assess whether zabadinostat effects the immune response to vaccination in humans. This opens the door for IngenOx to find new clinical utilities for zabadinostat and thus realise its true therapeutic potential. These are very interesting and enlightening results, and we look forward to exploring the relevance in human subjects.”
David Kerr, CMO of IngenOx and Professor of Cancer Medicine at the University of Oxford:
“As we age, our immune systems age with us, potentially reducing the effectiveness of a range of vaccines. These fascinating observations offer great hope that zabadinostat can be repurposed as an adjuvant, or aid, to improve the effectiveness of vaccines. These new data provide a strong rationale to build on our existing clinical experience of zabadinostat as a well tolerated anticancer drug to initiate human vaccine trials.”
Notes:
About IngenOx Therapeutics
IngenOx Therapeutics is a bio-pharmaceutical company focused on delivering new precision medicine drugs and vaccines to treat the most difficult cancers and related diseases. It is a spinout from the University of Oxford, and is located in the Oxford Science Park, UK.
The company’s approach seeks to align the right drug with the right patient enabling a targeted precision medicine approach to cancer therapy. It has also built a proprietary platform focused on re-educating the body’s immune system to recognise and destroy tumours. The assets in its pipeline have displayed convincing clinical benefits to late-stage cancer patients through disease control, tumour shrinkage, reduced side effects, and extended survival times.
IngenOx has secured institutional investment from Asian investors in addition to Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) and has signed global license partnerships with AstraZeneca and Roche.
Press Release: Oxford, UK - 5 January 2023
Celleron Therapeutics and Argonaut Therapeutics Announce Completion of Merger to Form IngenOx Therapeutics
Celleron Therapeutics and Argonaut Therapeutics have jointly announced today the completion of a merger agreement to form IngenOx Therapeutics.
Supported by Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), the merger of the two University of Oxford spinout companies brings together drug discovery and clinical development capabilities, which streamlines the R&D process and ensures pipeline continuity.
IngenOx Therapeutics will focus on delivering new precision medicine drugs and vaccines to treat the most difficult cancers, often referred to as cold tumours. Its pipeline comprises early to late- stage clinical assets that work in different ways to activate the immune response against cold tumours, which are generally poorly recognised by the immune system. An exciting proprietary platform technology focusses on precision cancer vaccines that act by targeting the immune response to a novel source of cancer antigens.
Nick La Thangue, CEO of IngenOx, and Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Oxford commented:
“We are very excited by the merger which creates a company with a highly innovative pipeline, a talented and driven management team supported by a balanced group of investor shareholders. This provides the basis for success and future growth. IngenOx has the critical mass to bring a range of novel cancer therapies through clinical development and onwards towards market launch. This is good news for patients, in our continued fight against cancers which remain clinically unmet.”
James Noble, Chairman of the Board of IngenOx commented:
“IngenOx is a new company, with both clinical stage programmes and a research pipeline. The merger has strengthened the portfolio and the shareholder base of the company, giving IngenOx both scientific and financial strength.”
Nick Dixon-Clegg, Board Director at IngenOx, and Partner at Oxford Science Enterprises commented:
“Having supported Argonaut since its spin-out from the University, we are excited to now back it merging to form IngenOx, which will host a combined cutting-edge pre-clinical and clinical platform. We look forward to continuing to support IngenOx as its pipeline matures to deliver superior and effective cancer drugs in clinically unmet disease.”
Notes:
About Celleron Therapeutics
Celleron Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing a pipeline of precision medicine drugs for advanced cancer indications. It is a spinout from the University of Oxford and is located in the Oxford Science Park, UK. The company’s approach seeks to align the right drug with the right patient enabling a targeted precision medicine approach to cancer therapy. It has also built a proprietary platform around re-educating the body’s immune system to recognise and destroy tumours. The assets in its pipeline have displayed convincing clinical benefits to late-stage cancer patients through disease control, tumour shrinkage, reduced side effects, and extended survival times.
In 2016, Celleron secured institutional investment from a consortium of South Korean investors to advance its oncology assets. In 2020, the company incorporated SynOx Therapeutics, which was later spun out after securing investment from a group of European blue-chip VCs. Celleron has signed global license partnerships with AstraZeneca and Roche.
For more information see www.cellerontherapeutics.com
About Argonaut Therapeutics
Argonaut Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotech company focusing on the research and discovery of new epigenetic drugs against unmet cancers. It is a spinout from the University of Oxford and is located in the Oxford Science Park, UK. The company has internal drug discovery capabilities and patented new chemical entities against the drug target protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5). The PRMT5 pathway is key in the natural regulation of cancer proliferation and antigen recognition by the immune system. Argonaut differentiates itself through intellectual property protection and its precision medicine approach, made possible through proprietary biomarkers that help predict which patients would respond well to PRMT5 inhibitor drugs.
In 2019, Argonaut secured investment from JW Pharmaceuticals, Oxford Science Enterprises, and a number of private investors. Argonaut maintains a close relationship with the Division of Medical Sciences at the University of Oxford.
For more information see https://argonauttherapeutics.co.uk
About Oxford Science Enterprises
Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) is an independent, billion-pound investment company, created in 2015 to found, fund and build transformational businesses via its unique partnership with the University of Oxford, the world's #1 research university. This partnership enables OSE to work with the brightest academic minds tackling the world's toughest challenges and guarantees unrivalled access to their scientific research. In collaboration with its global network of entrepreneurs and advisers, OSE shapes and nurtures complex ideas into successful businesses, while targeting attractive returns for shareholders. Actively focused on a core portfolio of around 40 companies spanning three high-growth, high-impact sectors – Life Sciences, Health Tech, and Deep Tech – the company adopts a flexible, long-term investment approach, recognising the path from ground-breaking research to global markets takes time and resilience.
To date, OSE has invested £0.5 billion in over 80 ambitious companies built on Oxford science. A key player in Oxford's entrepreneurial ecosystem, OSE is highly motivated to foster an environment that catalyses pioneering research and steers it to commercial success.
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