Oxford, UK – 12 March 2019: Oxford Biomedica plc (LSE:OXB), a leading gene and cell therapy group, today announces that it has entered into a research and development collaboration with Microsoft Research to improve the yield and quality of next generation gene therapy vectors using the cloud and machine learning. Cell and gene therapy has the potential to transform medicine, providing long-term and potentially curative treatment options for a wide range of diseases. The first products are already approved and available for patients however, with the increase in demand for these innovative therapies comes manufacturing challenges for the delivery systems that enable them. The collaboration will combine the expertise of Oxford Biomedica researchers in cutting edge vector development and large scale manufacture and the team within the Station B initiative at Microsoft to explore new ways to increase the yield and improve the purity of Oxford Biomedica’s lentiviral vectors, while further reducing the cost. Oxford Biomedica will contribute large data sets for analysis via the Microsoft Azure intelligent cloud platform. Microsoft, in collaboration with Oxford Biomedica scientists, will utilise its cloud computing and machine learning capabilities to develop in silico models and novel algorithms to help advance the next generation of cell and gene delivery technology. The collaboration will run for an initial two-year period and may be extended by either party. Jason Slingsby, Chief Business Officer of Oxford Biomedica, said: “Our LentiVector® gene delivery platform is recognised as a leading solution by major industry players but developing next-generation manufacturing technologies is complex and often involves uncertain outcomes. “The collaboration with Microsoft Research will harness our rich data resources to offer greater insights into the biological processes required to enhance quality and optimise yields of lentiviral vectors. It builds on our digital framework initiative, established in 2018, and the work underway in our collaboration with Synthace to rapidly and flexibly design, simulate and execute complex experimental designs to develop next generation manufacturing processes, including with stable producer cell lines for lentiviral vectors. Our goal is to enable faster, cheaper and more reliable manufacture of high quality next-generation cell and gene therapies to allow more patients to benefit.” Andrew Phillips, Head of Biological Computation at Microsoft, said: “Programming biology has the potential to solve some of the world’s toughest problems in medicine, and to lay the foundations for a future bioeconomy based on sustainable technology. Oxford Biomedica is at the cutting edge of cell and gene therapy delivery and their highly sophisticated manufacturing processes generate a vast wealth of valuable data. We anticipate that by combining computational modelling, lab automation, machine learning and the power of the cloud, we can help them in their quest to make existing treatments more cost effective and in future to develop groundbreaking new treatments. -Ends- Enquiries:Oxford Biomedica plc John Dawson, Chief Executive OfficerT: +44 (0)1865 783 000 Stuart Paynter, Chief Financial OfficerT: +44 (0)1865 783 000 Catherine Isted, Head of Corporate Development & IRT: +44 (0)1865 954 161 / E: ir@oxb.com Sarah MacLeod, Head of CommunicationsT: +44 (0)7747 602 739 / E: media@oxb.com Consilium Strategic Communications Mary-Jane Elliott/Matthew Neal T: +44 (0)20 3709 5700 About Oxford BiomedicaOxford Biomedica (LSE:OXB) is a leading gene and cell therapy group focused on developing life changing treatments for serious diseases. Oxford Biomedica and its subsidiaries (the "Group") have built a sector leading lentiviral vector delivery platform (LentiVector®), which the Group leverages to develop in vivo and ex vivo products both in-house and with partners. The Group has created a valuable proprietary portfolio of gene and cell therapy product candidates in the areas of oncology, ophthalmology and CNS disorders. The Group has also entered into a number of partnerships, including with Novartis, Sanofi, Axovant Gene Therapies, Orchard Therapeutics, Boehringer Ingelheim, the UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium and Imperial Innovations, through which it has long-term economic interests in other potential gene and cell therapy products. Oxford Biomedica is based across several locations in Oxfordshire, UK and employs more than 430 people. Further information is available at www.oxb.com About OXB’s digital framework initiativeOXB’s digital framework Initiative aims to consolidate our data generated in R&D and manufacturing from a multitude of devices and processes, to enable easier recall and deeper holistic analysis. Over time, OXB aims to apply a range of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to this large data set principally to reduce time and cost in R&D and manufacturing. The digital framework initiative was first announced in November 2018 with the award of a £2m grant from Innovate UK to build digital and robotics capabilities to streamline the production of next-generation medicines. OXB’s partnership with Microsoft represents a major component of OXB’s digital framework initiative.
Oxford Biomedica and Microsoft Research announced a R&D collaboration that aims to use cloud and machine learning to improve the purity and yield of next-gen cell- and gene-delivery technology. Combining the companies’ technologies is expected to help Oxford Biomedica - which is also working with Synthace to further hone manufacturing process design, simulation and execution – both to develop new treatments and increase the cost effectiveness of existing ones.