Oxford BioMedica announced in June 2002 that it had added a new product Repoxygen, to treat anaemia, to its development portfolio.
Preclinical data showing that the product cured anaemia in mice are being presented by Dr Katie Binley of Oxford BioMedica at the American Society for Gene Therapy (ASGT) meeting in Boston in June 2002.
Anaemia is a pathological reduction in the number of red blood cells in the bloodstream leading to the lowering of the ability of the blood to deliver oxygen to the body.
It is a relatively common condition particularly in patients with kidney disease and those being treated with AZT for AIDS or undergoing chemotherapy for cancer.
The market for the treatment of anaemia is approximately $2 billion and is currently dominated by recombinant erythropoietin (EPO).
However, the use of the recombinant product has some disadvantages, particularly in determining the accurate dosing level.
The data presented to ASGT show that BioMedica's gene therapy approach has the potential to solve such problems.
BioMedica has constructed a viral gene delivery vector carrying the human EPO gene under the control of the company's hypoxia control element (HRE).
The HRE senses low oxygen concentrations and will switch a gene on in response.
When the oxygen concentration returns to normal the HRE will then switch the gene off providing an exquisite control mechanism for the production of EPO in situ.
Repoxygen is designed to be delivered by injection into muscle.
Here it produces EPO when the underlying anaemia results in low systemic oxygen concentrations.
This will lead to the selective increase in the number of red blood cells, which carry oxygen round the body.
As the red blood cell count reaches normal levels and the systemic oxygen concentration reaches normal levels, the EPO gene is switched off.
No further release of EPO occurs until the patient becomes anaemic once more and the cycle is repeated.
In this way the product should allow the patient to maintain a normal red blood cell count, thereby curing the anaemia.
Data presented by Dr Binley, principal scientist at Oxford BioMedica, at the ASGT meeting shows unequivocally that Repoxygen functions exactly as anticipated and has cured anaemic mice via simple injections into muscle.
Commenting on the results professor Alan Kingsman, BioMedica's chief executive said: "This is an exciting product that builds on our core competencies and underlines our determination to extend BioMedica's product portfolio beyond cancer where we have already achieved considerable clinical success.
"The preclinical efficacy data for Repoxygen are excellent and we are considering the clinical development of the product, probably with a partner."
