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A PROMISING NEW WEAPON AGAINST CANCER HAS BEGUN CLINICAL TRIALS AT OXFORD BIOMEDICA
05 June 2000 - Boston University
| A promising new weapon against cancer, developed by scientists at Boston University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, has begun clinical trials at Oxford BioMedica, a British company specializing in the application of gene-based therapeutics. A recent licensing agreement extended a 1997 agreement giving Oxford BioMedica broad access to the use of the family of cytochrome P450 enzymes for cancer gene therapy. |
The P450-based gene therapy approach that is being tested by Oxford BioMedica was developed through the collaborative research efforts of David J. Waxman, professor of cell and molecular biology and professor of medicine at Boston University and Drs. Antonio Chiocca, associate professor of neurosurgery and Xandra Breakefield, professor of neurology at MGH and Harvard Medical School, who are experts in gene transfer technologies. Dr. Waxman is an expert in the pharmacology of cytochrome P450 enzymes and their role in the metabolism of cancer chemotherapeutic drugs. As part of the agreement negotiated by MGH and Boston University’s Community Technology Fund, BioMedica will pay an upfront fee, milestones, and royalties on sales. The cytochrome P450 gene CYP2B6 is the therapeutic gene used in MetXia-P450TM, Oxford BioMedica’s first gene therapy product. It is currently undergoing Phase I/II clinical trials to test its effectiveness in breast cancer. This P450 enzyme is naturally expressed in the liver and work carried out in the inventors’ laboratories has shown that the enzyme, when expressed in tumors, can greatly improve the efficacy of cyclophosphamide, a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug. MetXia-P450 TM allows cyclophosphamide to be activated directly at its site of action in the tumor, thereby enhancing its potency as an anti-tumor treatment, was first shown in a paper published in 1994 by Dr. Chiocca and colleagues. A second Phase I/II clinical trial of MetXia-P450 in ovarian cancer patients has been approved by the UK Medicines Control Authority and is planned to start shortly. "This approach has great promise in combating some of the most devastating cancers we face," said Ashley Stevens, director of the Boston University’s Office of Technology Transfer. "We are thrilled at Oxford BioMedica’s progress in the development of MetXia-P450TM and its implementation in clinical trials." Alan Kingsman, chief executive of BioMedica said: "We are delighted to be able to extend and strengthen our existing relationship with these leading US academic institutions and are particularly pleased to welcome them as shareholders in the Company. This is a recognition and endorsement of the progress we have made in the clinical development of MetXia-P450TM since signing the original agreement in October 1997."
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Boston University has a well-deserved reputation for excellence in research in a wide range of disciplines and a demonstrated commitment to fostering innovative interdisciplinary research. The Office of the Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Education supports the University in facilitating research at the both the student and faculty levels.Our mission is to enhance and encourage research at Boston University and to provide a climate conducive to maintaining the University at the cutting edge of research and scholarly activities. We work with the Boston University community to plan and coordinate interdisciplinary research and represent the University in research matters related to Inter-University consortia. To encourage new, innovative, and cross-disciplinary efforts, this office administers the Special Program for Research Initiation Grants (SPRInG). We showcase graduate research at Science & Technology Day. This annual event features nearly 200 research posters by graduate students from both the Medical and Charles River Campuses working in a wide range of disciplines. Our annual research magazine, Research at Boston University, informs a wide audience about a selection of our significant research findings and ongoing studies at Boston University. We also maintain a strong presence on the web through this site and through the Science Coalition’s website, which brings our research successes to the attention of Congress and other policy makers in the federal government. To assist Boston University researchers, this office oversees the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and coordinates with the Office of Sponsored Programs on the Charles River Campus , the research administration on the Medical Campus, the Office of Research Compliance, and the various graduate programs. For the development of commercially viable ideas, we administer the Provost's Innovation Fund and work closely with the Office of Technology Transfer. We also coordinate proposals where there are institutional limits to the number of proposals that may be submitted, cost sharing requirements, significant laboratory renovations, or other special circumstances. This office assists departments and centers to achieve a diverse faculty and graduate student body through our membership and activities with the Northeast Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate and through our affiliation with the Clare Boothe Luce program of the Henry Luce Foundation. |
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