News of a research and development (R&D) collaboration with leading Japanese firm Santem was warmly received by investors, giving the shares a 2% boost to 722p.
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) has entered the Japanese market by entering an R&D collaboration with Santen, the market leader for prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals.
The tie-up includes an option and license agreement to research and develop gene therapy products for the treatment of inherited retinal disease. The company is entitled to milestone payments and up to 10% royalties on net sales.
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Inherited retinal diseases are a group of rare disorders caused by one of more than 260 different genes, where mutation results in vision loss or blindness, often disproportionately affecting children and young adults.
The aim of the collaboration is to generate pre-clinical proof of concept to treat inherited retinal disease with products manufactured by Oxford Biomedica.
WHY ARE INVESTORS EXCITED BY GENE THERAPY?
The number of products which focus on gene therapy are growing fast; according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it receives more than 200 applications for product approval every year, adding to the 800 gene therapy products already on file. By 2025, it expects to be approving 10 to 20 cell and gene therapy products per year.
Oxford Biomedica has been a pioneer of gene and cell therapy for 20 years and has built partnerships with some of the largest European pharmaceutical companies including Novartis and Sanofi, who access the company’s intellectual property and production facilities.
It stands to gain from royalties and development payments from a pipeline of products expected to be released over the next few years.
Unlike many biotechnology firms, Oxford Biomedica is profitable; current consensus net income is expected to be £6.9m for the year ended 31 December 2019, rising to £13.9m in 2020, according to Reuters estimates.
