Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT) has entered a multi-year partnership with Roche to discover antibody-based therapeutics for cancer treatment.
The partnership will leverage OBT’s OGAP-Verify discovery platform, which claims to offer greater sensitivity and enables target selection with enhanced drug development attributes.
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OBT will identify targets using its platform, which will then be validated via joint research efforts.
Roche will lead subsequent research, development and commercialisation activities for these targets. It will pay OBT up to $36m upfront.
OBT could also earn more than $1bn in milestone payments, in addition to royalties on net product sales.
The alliance combines the strengths of OBT’s discovery platform with Roche’s expertise in drug development, aiming to progress several oncology targets.
Roche corporate business development head Boris Zaïtra stated: “We are excited to enter this strategic collaboration with OBT. By combining Roche’s expertise in discovering and developing transformative therapeutics with OBT’s innovative target discovery platform, we aim to unlock new possibilities in cancer treatment.
“This partnership underscores our commitment to advancing potentially first-in-class antibody-based therapeutics. Together, we aim to accelerate the development of innovative therapies that address major unmet patient needs in oncology.”
OBT, as a clinical-stage oncology company, focuses on developing antibody-based therapies to address unmet needs in cancer treatment.
Its portfolio includes bispecific antibodies and antibody-drug conjugates.
OBT076, the company’s lead clinical programme, commenced expansion in a US clinical trial in2021, which included subjects with advanced or refractory solid tumours, such as lung, bladder, ovarian and gastric cancers.
Its pipeline and development offerings have been previously validated via collaborations with Abbvie’s ImmunoGen, Zymeworks and Boehringer Ingelheim, among others.
