Oxford Biomedica Regulatory News (OXB)

19 Aug 2009 07:00



OXFORD BIOMEDICA ANNOUNCES ACCEPTANCE OF LATE-BREAKING ABSTRACT ON TROVAX® PHASE III TRIST STUDY FOR PRESENTATION AT ECCO 15-34th ESMO CONGRESS

Oxford, UK - 19 August 2009: Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB), a leading gene therapy company, announced today that its late-breaking abstract on the Phase III TRIST study of TroVax, its therapeutic cancer vaccine, in renal cancer has been selected for oral presentation at the joint 15th Congress of the European CanCer Organisation (ECCO) and 34th Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) in Berlin, Germany. Detailed results from the most recent interim analysis of the TRIST study will be presented during a session on 'Genitourinary malignancies - Renal and Other' on 22 September 2009 from 9:00am to 11:15am CET. 

The abstract is entitled 'TRIST: A randomised, double blind, placebo controlled Phase III study of MVA-5T4 in metastatic renal cancer patients'. It has been assigned an abstract number of 17LBA in the programme and abstract book, which is expected to be available at www.ecco-org.eu. A special European Journal of Cancer Supplement will also be printed and will include the TRIST abstract amongst other late-breaking and 'best' abstracts from the Congress. These abstracts will receive the highest visibility possible for an abstract presented at this conference.

The Phase III TRIST study is evaluating TroVax plus standard of care against placebo plus standard of care. The trial enrolled 733 patients with advanced or metastatic renal cancer. Despite not achieving its primary endpoint, follow-up analyses of the TRIST study have yielded valuable insights into the efficacy of TroVax, demonstrating further evidence of clinical activity and significant survival advantages to TroVax in subsets of patients.

John Dawson, Oxford BioMedica's Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted that our late-breaking abstract on the TRIST study has been accepted for presentation at the ECCO 15-34th ESMO Congress. This provides an opportunity for us to present our data at one of the world's most well-attended and high-profile cancer conferences. There are some positive findings from our recent analyses of the TRIST study and we look forward to presenting these to the oncology community." 

-Ends-

Notes to editors

1. Oxford BioMedica

Oxford BioMedica (LSE: OXB) is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative gene-based medicines and therapeutic vaccines that aim to improve the lives of patients with high unmet medical needs. The Company's technology platform includes a highly efficient gene delivery system (LentiVector®), which has specific advantages for targeting diseases of the central nervous system and the eye; and a unique tumour antigen (5T4), which is an ideal target for anti-cancer therapy. Through in-house and collaborative research, Oxford BioMedica has a broad pipeline and its partners include sanofi-aventis, Sigma-Aldrich and Wyeth. Technology licensees include Biogen Idec, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co and Pfizer. Further information is available at www.oxfordbiomedica.co.uk

2. TroVax® 

TroVax is Oxford BioMedica's novel therapeutic cancer vaccine, which is designed specifically to stimulate an anti-cancer immune response and has potential application in most solid tumour types. TroVax targets the tumour antigen 5T4, which is broadly distributed throughout a wide range of solid tumours. The presence of 5T4 is correlated with poor prognosis. The product consists of a Modified Vaccinia Ankara vector, which delivers the gene for 5T4 and stimulates a patient's body to produce an anti-5T4 immune response. This immune response destroys tumour cells carrying the 5T4 antigen.

3.  ECCO 15-34th ESMO Congress 

The ECCO 15-34th ESMO Congress will take place at the ICC Berlin - Internationales Congress Centrum, Messedamm 22, D-14055 Berlin, Germany (www.icc-berlin.de) from Sunday 20 September to Thursday 24 September 2009. This joint congress between ECCO (European CanCer Organisation) and ESMO (European Society for Medical Oncology) provides a unique European forum for presentations of cutting-edge research from experimental and clinical oncologists, epidemiologists and cancer nurses. Over 15,000 scientists, doctors, nurses, patients, carers and industry representatives are expected to attend.