OGS Announces Progress in Medarex Alliance
OXFORD, England, March 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oxford GlycoSciences Plc (Nasdaq: OGSI - News; LSE: OGS - News) today announces three major milestones that have been reached within its collaboration with Medarex, Inc.
An additional protein target has been accepted into the OGS/Medarex programme, thereby meeting OGS' obligation to provide ten acceptable antigens exclusively to the collaboration. This most recent protein target is believed to be particular to many breast and colon cancers, as well as pancreatic and lung cancers, and has certain features which indicate that it may be a promising target.
Progress has also been made on four, previously submitted, OGS/Medarex protein targets. These proteins have been manufactured by OGS and used for immunisations; all four have generated promising responses. Fully human antibodies have been selected for the two most advanced antigens and the lead selection process is now underway.
Another development for the collaboration is that the lead OGS/Medarex antibody (OGS-MDX-001) targeted against Heparanase 1, an enzyme which promotes angiogenesis and metastasis, has entered preclinical safety assessment. Production of the material for use in the initial Phase 1 study has also been initiated.
David Ebsworth Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of OGS, said: "These are major milestones for our alliance with Medarex and further emphasise the commitment of OGS management to deliver on the Company's business goals laid out at the interim results last year. Today, we have also announced the submission of our amendment to the New Drug Application for Zavesca® (miglustat) to the FDA. Achieving these strategic goals, as promised, demonstrates that our operations and our operational spending continue to befocused on building shareholder value."
Notes to Editors
Collaboration
In September 2000, OGS announced a three-year alliance to develop novel therapeutics produced through the joint application of Medarex's fully human monoclonal antibody technology and OGS's proprietary proteomics technology for high-throughput protein analysis and target validation. |
