Oxford Biomedica and Santen to collaborate on gene therapy vectors for inherited retinal disease

Oxford Biomedica and Japan’s Santen Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd have announced their R&D partnership and Option & License Agreement to research and develop gene therapy products for the treatment of an inherited retinal disease, and to generate pre-clinical proof of concept to treat an inherited retinal disease with lentiviral vectors developed and manufactured by OXB.

Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Global R&D at Santen, Naveed Shams, said: “We are excited to partner with Oxford Biomedica and leverage their lentiviral vector platform to develop innovative therapeutics for an inherited retinal disease. A gene therapy approach to treating inherited retinal diseases will allow Santen to meet the needs of patients suffering from inherited retinal dystrophies. This important collaboration builds on Santen’s ongoing research efforts as part of the CiCLE Programme from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, and further strengthens our commitment to addressing challenges in ophthalmic care. ”

Oxford Biomedica’s CEO, John Dawson, said: “We are delighted to have formed our first collaboration in Japan. Santen is a leading, multi-national ophthalmology company developing an innovative gene therapy product for the treatment of a significant inherited retinal disease affecting patients with few or no therapy options. We believe that our LentiVector® platform is particularly well-suited to the delivery of large genes to the eye. We look forward to working together with Santen in a true partnership that will bring to bear our respective capabilities in gene therapy vectors and inherited retinal diseases to maximise the value of this important R&D programme.”