Oxford Biomedica and Homology Medicines Strike a Win-Win Deal
Britain’s Oxford BioMedica and Bedford, Massachusetts's Homology Medicines have formed a symbiotic partnership to launch a full scope AAV manufacturing and innovation business.
The new business, Oxford Biomedica Solutions, will be led by Homology’s current chief operating officer. Homology’s current CEO will remain in his seat.
Customers of Oxford Biomedica Solutions will benefit from access to Homology’s East Coast facility’s proven end-to-end manufacturing capabilities with their British partner’s know-how in viral vector manufacturing.
Financially, the deal will help Homology significantly extend its runway. Oxford Biomedica is dropping $130 million in cash to support the programs Homology currently has in the clinic. It’ll also make a $50 million investment to fund the new company.
Homology’s capabilities have been proven with three FDA-cleared INDs. Its pipeline includes a gene therapy trial and gene editing trial for adults with phenylketonuria (PKU). The former delivers functioning PAH genes to the liver while the latter aims to correct the genome where there’s a defective gene permanently. Phase II data on the gene therapy for PKU is expected mid-year.
The company also started on a gene therapy trial for Hunter syndrome. In this rare disorder, the body does not properly digest sugar molecules. This brings Homology to its goal of three programs in the clinic by the end of 2021.
Oxford Biomedica will have the lion’s share of the new venture as 80% owner, while Homology gets 20% ownership. Homology also gets preferred key customer status to its “plug and play” manufacturing process to speed along future innovations for the company. In three years, either party can trigger the sale of Homology’s 20% stake in the company.
The British partner gets access to Homology’s unique AAV capabilities to advance Oxford Biomedica’s aspirations as well.
“Accessing Homology Medicines’ unique AAV capabilities is a major advancement in Oxford Biomedica’s goal to become an innovative global viral vector leader that provides solutions to Cell and Gene Therapy (C>) Biotech and biopharma companies for their process development and manufacturing needs across key viral vectors,” CEO Dr. Roch Doliveux said in a statement. “Process development/CMC being one of the most important critical success factors to ensure efficacy, safety and affordability of C>, Oxford Biomedica is in a strong position to enable our customers to bring their new medicines to many more patients and change their lives.”
Oxford Biomedica also announced a new partnership earlier this week with Virica Biotech to improve its lentiviral vector gene therapies using Virica’s Viral Sensitizers. The former’s LentiVector platform has already turned out two approved products made in partnerships—Kymriah with Novartis and AZD1222, AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine approved in the U.K., EU and Japan. The company also has partnerships with Bristol Myer’s Squibb, Sio Gene Therapies, Boehringer Ingelheim, Santen Pharmaceutical and Orchard Therapeutics that include both clinical and pre-clinical assets.
For Homology, the deal with Oxford Biomedica gives it the financial boost the company needs to continue down its path toward transforming the lives of patients with rare diseases by tackling the underlying genetic cause.
Homology CEO Arthur Tzianabos told BioSpace, “This is the best of both worlds for Homology. Our goal has always been to cure genetic diseases. In pursuit of that, we built an industry-leading internal CMC and manufacturing capability and team for our gene therapy and gene editing products. Today’s news takes this a step further by allowing us to leverage this core asset beyond our own clinical programs—which will still benefit from what we have built—to support other companies, and importantly, additional patients, which aligns with our mission.”