SAN CARLOS, Calif., Oct. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Omniox, Inc., an IND-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for hypoxic diseases, announced today that the company has been granted a Translation Fund Award from the Wellcome Trust. The $5.8 million award will advance development of Omniox's lead product, OMX-4.80, for the treatment of hypoxic cancers including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).
"It is a tremendous achievement to have our work recognized by The Wellcome Trust, and we are honored to have received one of the most coveted awards in the biomedical arena," said Stephen Cary, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and co-founder. "OMX-4.80, when used in combination with conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy, has the potential to significantly increase survival in patients with hypoxic tumors. This award will help Omniox advance its mission of improving the lives of people with fatal diseases like GBM, where there continues to be a serious unmet medical need."
Hypoxia is a lack of oxygen in cells and tissue and occurs in most cancers. Hypoxic cancers are resistant to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and progress more rapidly. OMX-4.80 is part of a family of tunable H-NOX oxygen delivery carriers engineered by Omniox to deliver oxygen to oxygen-starved regions of hypoxic cancers. Pre-clinical studies have shown that OMX-4.80 can reverse hypoxia in a range of cancers and enhance the therapeutic benefits of radiotherapy. The Wellcome Trust Translation Award will support further development of OMX-4.80 and Phase 1 clinical studies in GBM.
About H-NOX Technology
Omniox's oxygen delivery technology is derived from the naturally occurring H-NOX family of gas-binding proteins (found from mammals to bacteria) that act as stable gas sensors in a variety of biological settings. H-NOX proteins have a superior safety profile when compared to hemoglobin based oxygen carriers, because they do not cause vasoconstriction by scavenging nitric oxide. In addition, H-NOX proteins can be engineered to achieve a broad range of therapeutic profiles by modifying their oxygen binding/release characteristics and circulation lifespan. The H-NOX oxygen delivery platform has the potential to address a broad range of clinical needs where reversing hypoxia is likely to improve patient survival and health.
About Omniox, Inc.
Omniox is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2006 to commercialize technology developed by the Marletta laboratory in the Department of Chemistry at UC Berkeley. The company has been supported by a group of private investors and federal institutions including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The company is headquartered in San Carlos, California. For more information, please visit http://www.omniox.com.
About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the second-highest-spending global charitable foundation, dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports bright minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities, including public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk
SOURCE Omniox, Inc.
