LONDON: Oxford, UK and Osaka Japan-Oxford Biomedica, a leading gene and cell therapy group, and Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Santen), the market leader for prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals in Japan with a global presence in over 60 countries, today announced that they have entered into an R&D collaboration and Option & Licence Agreement to research and develop gene therapy products for the treatment of an inherited retinal disease.
The aim of the R&D collaboration is to generate pre-clinical proof of concept to treat an inherited retinal disease with lentiviral vectors developed and manufactured by Oxford Biomedica. The collaboration includes a licence to use Oxford’s LentiVector platform and access to its industrial-scale manufacturing capabilities.
Oxford Biomedica is entitled to an undisclosed milestone payment on exercise of the option to the LentiVector platform as well as development milestones and up to a 10% royalty on net sales. Santen has worldwide commercial rights to the programme, while OXB retains an option to co-fund and participate in development and commercialisation in the US and Europe.