GSK, OBT in cancer pact

GlaxoSmithKline and Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT) have formed a strategic alliance to discover, develop and commercialize novel, therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of primary, metastatic and recurring forms of cancer. GSK will develop novel antibody therapies against selected OBT targets. In parallel OBT will develop one of its own monoclonal antibodies through to clinical proof of concept, at which point GSK will have an exclusive option to in-license this monoclonal antibody and will thereafter assume responsibility for further clinical development and commercialization on a worldwide basis.

OBT will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and will be eligible for as much as $370 million in discovery, development, regulatory and commercialization milestones. In addition to the upfront and milestone payments, OBT will receive double-digit royalties on sales of any product that it develops to clinical proof of concept and single-digit royalties on worldwide sales of marketed GSK antibody products aimed at OBT targets. OBT may also opt to carry forward the OBT or GSK collaboration programs that GSK chooses not to develop further.

The alliance integrates OBT’s expertise in the discovery of novel oncology targets and therapeutic antibody discovery with GSK’s in-house therapeutic antibody discovery and development capabilities. OBT’s antibody discovery platform builds on its OGAP proteomic database, which represents one of the world’s largest proprietary human protein collections including data on 5,000 cancer membrane proteins combined with highly disease relevant genomic and clinical information derived from human blood and cancer tissue studies.

“We are extremely pleased to be collaborating with GSK given their proven commitment to innovation and their expertise in the development and commercialization of novel oncology medicines,” said Christian Rohlff, OBT’s chief executive officer.

He added, “This strategic alliance provides important validation of our scientific expertise in the fields of cancer target discovery and broadens OBT’s antibody pipeline. In addition, we gain access to significant non-dilutive financing to support the development of our pipeline of fully human therapeutic antibodies which we believe have the potential to significantly impact clinically unmet needs in certain important cancer indications.”