Oxford BioMedica (OXB) is a company with broad and global market-leading capabilities in terms of development, manufacture and testing of lentiviral vectors for clinical and commercial use. As a platform and product developer OXB pioneered in vivo delivery of lentiviral vectors. Through a partnership with Novartis, OXB is the sole manufacturer of lentiviral vector in support of Kymriah™, the worlds’ first commercially approved product based on lentiviral vector technology. OXB is a rapidly growing UK-based organisation specialised in the development and manufacture of ATMPs, and needs to continue to invest in technology, capacity and innovation in order to grow and retain market share. OXB is at the forefront of lentiviral vector development and supply and is seeking to invest long term to maintain this lead. OXB seeks support for a £4million capital project focused on building a digital and robotics framework across OXB, with targetted capacity improvement, reduced waste and reduce cost of manufacture. The project, known as Digital Framework Project (DFP) goal is to drive improvements in analytical methodology, supply times and cost of goods . The DFP will enable OXB and our partners to deliver life altering lentiviral vector products to patients around the globe for a wide range of diseases. This investment will enable OXB to maintain our global leading position, and will ensure additional high value digital driven revenue generating activities can be realised in the UK.

Cell and gene therapies offer unprecedented promise for the cure, treatment or long term management of disease. However, the challenge facing the industry is the need for viral vectors which can be consistently manufactured to commercial scale with rigorous tolerances for purity, potency and safety. This collaboration to support advanced therapies is led by Oxford BioMedica (OXB) and includes 2 UK SME's; using OXB's existing leadership position in the development and manufacture of lentiviral vectors to meet in-house and partner organisation needs. Our aim is the development and application of novel advanced technologies to further evolve the current manufacturing platform, leading to an increase in the ability to deliver high quality vector for clinical and commercial applications. The project has the real potential to deliver tangible benefits to patients in shortening time-to-clinic and time-to-market as well as to improve the cost and access of bringing these novel therapies to patients. Each partner holds proprietary technology and know-how which will be leveraged to develop this innovative approach to viral vector manufacturing. The partners will look to access new market opportunities in cell and gene therapy resulting in economic growth and increased employment of highly skilled staff. The exploitable outcomes of this innovative project are closely aligned with the current government national priorities to make the UK a global hub for manufacturing advanced therapies.

Oxford BioMedica (OXB) is a company with broad and global market-leading capabilities in terms of development, manufacture and testing of lentiviral vectors for clinical and commercial use. As a platform/product developer OXB pioneered in vivo delivery of lentiviral vectors, and we have several strategic partnerships, such as one with Novartis supporting the development of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T-cell programmes, including Kymriah™ which is the only commercially approved product based on lentiviral vector technology. OXB seeks funding in support of a £6m project to help expand our existing GMP manufacturing capacity in the UK. This project is linked into a broader capacity expansion plan that will lead to increased high value manufacturing activities, together with the commitment to create many more highly skilled jobs. OXB continues to develop technologies based on state-of-the-art platform, manufacturing and testing capabilities, and will use the requested funding to further support our market leading position, ensuring the UK continues to lead in many areas of the development of advanced therapies.

Parkinson's disease is caused by the degeneration of nerve cells in part of the brain; leading to the loss of dopamine, a chemical messenger which plays a vital role in coordinating body movement. In early stages of PD, oral levadopa (L-DOPA) medication is effective in managing the symptoms that include tremor, muscle stiffness and slow physical movement. However, the body progressively loses its ability to convert L-DOPA to dopamine thereby reducing its effectiveness and leading to the development of uncontrolled motor function. Oxford BioMedica has developed a 'once-only' gene therapy approach to treat individuals with PD called OXB-102 that is administered once to the target region in the brain where it converts cells into a replacement dopamine factory. In essence, OXB-102 replaces a patient’s own lost source of the neurotransmitter analogous to the natural dopamine supply in the absence of PD.

Corneal transplantation is one of the most successful transplant procedures, due mainly to the relatively immune-privileged status of the eye and the fact that the cornea is largely free of blood vessels. However there is a failure rate in the first year of 14% and much higher in high rejection risk patients (such as those with failed previous grafts) due to blood vessel fromation in the patients eye, and the replacment of failed grafts is the indication for corneal transplantation for a significant proportion of patients in several referral centres. The prognosis in these patients can be so poor that many are not offered the opportunity of a further transplant and are left blind. EncorStat® is a novel engineered donor cornea, modified prior to transplantation, to extend rejection-free survival or prevent this risk entirely by suppressing blood vessel formation into the cornea post-transplant. We propose to use TSB funding to complete non-clinical safety studies and gain regulatory approval for clinical evaluation, to produce clinical grade vector and to use this to evaluate EncorStat® in a Phase I/IIa clinical trial.