January 27, 2012: The University of Oxford has established Oxford Cancer Biomarkers Limited (OCB) with a mission to identify patients who are likely to benefit from anti-cancer drugs and which treatment is best for each person. Isis Innovation, the University’s technology transfer company, has licensed the CancerNav biomarker technology to OCB. The University also has an equity stake in the company. The company’s founding scientists are Professor Nick La Thangue and Professor David Kerr. OCB has attracted a first-round investment from Quintiles as part of a strategic alliance that will enable OCB to establish research facilities in Oxford to develop a range of predictive biomarkers, the first of which were developed by the founders at the University of Oxford.
“For the average cancer drug, usually a small proportion of patients respond, and the vast majority do not,” said Professor Nick La Thangue, Professor of Cancer Biology at Oxford’s Department of Oncology. “A small number also become very sick because of the side effects of the drug. Our technology will not only benefit those patients who respond, but we can also avoid treating people with drugs that we know will make them sick. This means we can get the right drug to the right patient.
“Many cancer drugs are expensive and it is difficult to justify widespread usage when we can’t predict if a patient will respond well to a drug. The biomarker approach we are offering through Oxford Cancer Biomarkers provides a way to identify responsive patients.
“Drug developers can use the technology to design clinical trials which are faster and more likely to have a positive outcome. Regulators and health care providers can be presented with a more compelling justification of the health economics of a treatment.”
OCB will have a strategic relationship with Quintiles Consulting and Quintiles Global Laboratories, which have capabilities and expertise to apply biomarker R&D innovations from OCB to biopharmaceutical development on a global basis.
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