The EIC has awarded Oxcia AB with a EIC transition grant of 2.5 million Euros for development of OXC-201.
Oxcia is very pleased to announce that the EIC (the European Innovation Council) has selected Oxcia’s OXC-201 to receive an EIC Transition grant of 2.5 million Euros. The EIC is Europe’s flagship innovation programme to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and innovations. Oxcia is the only Swedish company to receive the grant in this call.
OXC-201 has the potential to be a ground-breaking novel approach for treatment of IPF (Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis), with potential to substantially improve and even halt inflammation and fibrosis. The project is based on novel biology published in Science (Visnes et al, Nov 2018) and Nature Communication (Tanner et al, Feb 2023). The new findings demonstrate the role of the DNA repair enzyme OGG1 (8-oxo guanine DNA glycosylase) in gene transcription in inflammatory and fibrotic disease.
OXC-201 is a small molecule inhibitor of OGG1. By targeting OGG1, OXC-201 inhibits binding of OGG1 to DNA and thereby the modulation of gene transcription. Multiple key molecular pathways associated with IPF are inhibited and onset of fibrosis and inflammation is blocked. OXC-201 has successfully demonstrated therapeutic effects in several disease models.
The grant will be used to complete preclinical development including safety assessment as well as initial phase 1 safety tests in human healthy volunteers. The OXC-201 EIC project is called TOPFIBRO.
We are very happy for the support from EIC which enables us to further develop OXC-201, a compound that we hope will improve quality of life and the prognosis for patients. Early data look very promising and we are looking forward to confirming these data in future trials, says Pre-clinical Director Christina Kalderén.
IPF is a progressive disease that leads to dramatically reduced lung function, eventually followed by complete lung failure. The median survival rate for IPF patients is 3-5 years after diagnosis. Current standard of care for IPF does not improve lung function and only reduces the rate of decline of the breathing capacity, for many patients at the price of severe side effects. Thus, the unmet need in IPF is huge.
Oxcia is at the forefront of understanding the new biology and pharmacology of OGG1 involvement in modulating inflammation as well as fibrogenesis, which opens up opportunities in several indications, such as e.g. acute lung injury (ARDS) and allergic asthma.
For further information please contact:
Christina Kalderén, Pre-clinical Director
Email: christina.kalderen@oxcia.com
Or:
Ulrika Warpman Berglund, CEO
Phone: +46 (0) 73 270 96 05
Email: ulrika.warpmanberglund@oxcia.com
Briefly about Oxcia
Oxcia AB conducts innovative research through its unique way of utilizing oxidative DNA damage and DNA Damage response(1) and develops novel, safe and effective treatments for patients suffering from cancer, inflammation or fibrosis. Oxcia currently has two drug candidates, both with first-in-class potential. OXC-101 is in early clinical development for the treatment of solid and hematological cancers. OXC-201 is being developed as a treatment for inflammation and fibrosis-related diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis and allergic asthma, and is in the preclinical phase.
More information about Oxcia is available at www.oxcia.com
(Note (1): DNA Damage Response, DDR – the body's processes to in various ways repair the damage that occurs to DNA)