New patent for a novel diagnostic test to detect anti-microbial resistance filed, after successful completion of development and initial testing

Oxford Vacmedix (OVM), the UK clinical stage biopharma company, focused on the development of a new generation of cancer vaccines, announced today that project work to develop a novel diagnostic test for anti-microbial resistance, funded by Innovate UK, has been filed as a patent in the UK.

The need to monitor and control resistance to antimicrobial therapy has been identified as an urgent global priority by both the WHO and UN. The rise in carbapenem resistance has been identified as of particular concern given the importance of this class of antibiotics.

The research project carried out in collaboration with Imperial College in London and the Ditan hospital in Beijing, has been to develop a fast and economic lateral flow immune assay (LFIA) diagnostic test to detect bacterial resistance to carbapenem antibiotics. This has advantages in terms of speed, simplicity and cost-effectiveness, especially important for low- and middle-income countries. The prototype assays, produced at Changzhou Biotech under contract to OVM, have been trialled at several leading hospitals in Beijing where antibiotic resistance is a serious problem, particularly in intensive care patients.  Preliminary clinical tests show that the kits can detect the bacteria of antibiotic resistance directly from clinical samples in about 15 minutes, without prior bacterial culture.

The AMR diagnostic project has been mainly outsourced and run alongside OVM’s main development programmes to allow the company to focus on the development of its two lead cancer vaccines; OVM-100, an HPV vaccine targeted at cervical cancer; and OVM-200 a new type of vaccine based on survivin that targets solid tumours, and which is in Phase 1. Both vaccines address areas of significant unmet medical need with potential both as single agents and also in combination with other immune-oncology agents.

William Finch CEO of Oxford Vacmedix said:

“Whilst our primary focus is in the development of cancer vaccines, our technology also has applications for infectious diseases and this novel diagnostic test addresses an important need in treating seriously ill patients.  We have a lot of confidence in our initial results and with a patent application now made, we look forward to working with a partner to complete development and to commercialise the test.”

Shisong Jiang, Founder and CSO of Oxford Vacmedix said:

“I am very pleased that we have been able to use the Innovate UK funding and work with our collaboration partners to develop this AMR test. I would like particularly to recognise the development work at Changzhou Biotech where the team has done an excellent job. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic test demonstrate its potential and I look forward to seeing this work taken further, to help patients.”

About Oxford Vacmedix

Oxford Vacmedix UK Ltd, based on the Oxford Science Park, UK, is a clinical stage bio-pharma company that utilizes the novel proprietary platform technology of recombinant overlapping peptides (ROPs) invented by Professor Shisong Jiang. ROPs have been validated as a technology to stimulate broad and strong T cell immunity therefore forming a good platform for cancer therapeutic vaccines and diagnostics. The company is a spin-out of the University of Oxford and has strong partnerships including collaboration in China with Changzhou Bioscience that has licensed the ROP platform to develop diagnostics in both cancer and infectious disease.

About Changzhou Biotech

Changzhou Biotech Group (CBIG), based on in Changzhou, China was founded in 2012 to develop diagnostic applications of the core Recombinant Overlapping Peptide technology licensed from Oxford Vacmedix. CBIG has developed diagnostic tests for TB, (tuberculosis), Sepsis and Dementia.  The TB test is at regulatory stage, having recently completed a 1000 patient trial at three leading hospitals in China and has very shown to have improved sensitivity over existing tests. It has very significant potential in the diagnosis of TB. CBIG is already working with partners in China to prepare for commercialisation of the test.

Source: Oxford Vacmedix

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