REG - Oxford BioDynamics - Bupa UK to cover EpiSwitch® CiRT for customers

Oxford BiodynamicsAnnouncement

18/10/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 4448Q  Oxford BioDynamics PLC  18 October 2023

Oxford BioDynamics Plc

 

Bupa UK to cover EpiSwitch® CiRT for customers with cancer

·   Bupa UK health insurance customers being considered for checkpoint
inhibitor immunotherapy will now be offered the smart blood test, which
accurately predicts a cancer patient's response to the treatment

·   The OBD Bupa UK partnership significantly enhances access to CiRT in the
UK and reflects Bupa's commitment to leveraging advanced precision medicine
testing to transform cancer care

Oxford, UK - 18 October, 2023 - Oxford BioDynamics, Plc (AIM: OBD, the
Company), a biotechnology company developing precision medicine tests based on
the EpiSwitch® 3D genomics platform and Bupa, the UK's leading health
insurer, announce a strategic agreement to give Bupa patients access to OBD's
EpiSwitch CiRT (https://www.mycirt.com/) (Checkpoint inhibitor Response Test).

The EpiSwitch CiRT is a first-of-its-kind blood test that accurately predicts
an individual cancer patient's therapeutic response to immune checkpoint
inhibitors (ICIs), providing unique benefits for physicians in treatment
planning and navigating complex decisions  1,2 . ICIs offer a real hope of
durable disease control for some patients. Despite pre-screening with current
standard tests such as tumor PD-L1 expression, these costly ICIs offer a
long-term survival advantage to less than 1 in 4 patients  3 , and many may
become seriously ill and require hospital admission.

Under this new agreement between Bupa and OBD, Bupa health insurance customers
who are being considered for immunotherapy with an anti-PD-1/L1 ICI will be
offered the CiRT test, ensuring their doctor receives state-of-the-art
personalized guidance to inform their treatment plan. The partnership
underscores the shared vision of Bupa and OBD to improve the quality of
patient care, while sparing many individuals from unwarranted side effects
from ICI treatments that are ineffective for them.

The CiRT test will also be available to doctors considering treating Bupa
customers with an ICI, where decisions need to be made in the face of
potential serious illness and lack of response to treatment.

Tim Woodman, Medical Director at Bupa UK Insurance, said: "We're very pleased
to launch our partnership with Oxford BioDynamics which will give our
customers a leap in confidence when navigating complex decisions about their
therapy.

"This agreement reflects our commitment to leverage advanced precision
medicine testing to transform cancer care and provide doctors with the tools
they need to make informed decisions. Together with Oxford BioDynamics, we aim
to make a positive impact on the lives of all our customers living with
cancer."

Dr Jon Burrows, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford BioDynamics, said: "Joining
forces with a pioneering healthcare organization like Bupa will enhance access
to the EpiSwitch CiRT test across the UK. Gaining reimbursement from the UK's
leading health insurer is another milestone for the Company, as well as for
Bupa customers and their doctors.

"Current testing modalities lack the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy to
identify those most likely to benefit from this class of therapy - the CiRT
blood test is a first-of-its-kind test that addresses all of these
shortcomings."

This news follows EpiSwitch CiRT's sustained adoption in the US  4 , where a
unique CPT PLA reimbursement code for the test has been available for use by
US payors since October 2022.

-Ends-

References

 1  Oxford BioDynamics Plc. (2022). EpiSwitch CiRT. https://www.mycirt.com
(https://www.mycirt.com)

 2  Hunter, E., et al. (2023). Development and validation of blood‐based
predictive biomarkers for response to PD‐1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitors:
evidence of a universal systemic core of 3D immunogenetic profiling across
multiple oncological indications, Cancers 15(10), 2696.
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/15/10/2696
(https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6694/15/10/2696)

 3  Zhao, B.; Zhao, H.; Zhao, J. (2020). Efficacy of PD-1/PD-L1 blockade
monotherapy in clinical trials, Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology, Vol.
12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1758835920937612
(https://doi.org/10.1177/1758835920937612)

 4  Oxford BioDynamics Plc. (2023). Half-year report.
https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/oxford_biodynamics_plc/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=2040&newsid=1690889
(https://otp.tools.investis.com/clients/uk/oxford_biodynamics_plc/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=2040&newsid=1690889)

 

For further details please contact:

 Oxford BioDynamics Plc         +44 (0)1865 518910

 Jon Burrows, CEO

 Paul Stockdale, CFO

 Shore Capital                  +44 (0)20 7408 4090

 Nominated Adviser and Broker

 Stephane Auton

 Iain Sexton

 Instinctif Partners

 Melanie Toyne-Sewell            +44 (0)20 7457 2020

 Rozi Morris                    OxfordBioDynamics@instinctif.com (mailto:OxfordBioDynamics@instinctif.com)

 Adam Loudon

 Jack Kincade

 

 

Notes to Editors

 

About Oxford BioDynamics Plc

Oxford BioDynamics Plc (AIM: OBD) is a global biotechnology company, advancing
personalized healthcare by developing and commercializing precision medicine
tests for life-changing diseases.

Its flagship products are the EpiSwitch® CiRT
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/www.mycirt.com/___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86OTRjOGE5ZDRmYWIwMTc2MWFhZjYyZTZkMWJhZTFmNDg6NjphN2EwOmU5ZDc2NmYxZjYxNTk4OGE3YzY3NzkzYWRmODlmMmZmMzBmZmU2ZDZlZmNhMWI0ZmRlYjE3Nzc5N2Q4NmUzZTc6cDpU)
(Checkpoint Inhibitor Response Test) and EpiSwitch® PSE
(http://www.94percent.com) (EpiSwitch Prostate Screening test) blood tests.
CiRT is a predictive immune response profile for immuno-oncology (IO)
checkpoint inhibitor treatments, launched in February 2022. PSE is a blood
test that boosts the predictive accuracy of a PSA test from 55% to 94% when
testing the presence or absence of prostate cancer, which has been launched in
the US and UK in September 2023.

In March 2021, the Company launched its first commercial prognostic test,
EpiSwitch® CST
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/covidseveritytest.com/___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86OTRjOGE5ZDRmYWIwMTc2MWFhZjYyZTZkMWJhZTFmNDg6NjpmZWY1OmMzOGIyYTk2Yjk1OTgyMDNlMGFkNmQwZGU3ZmNmYzQwMzZmMGIwZDQ5NzA0OTAzNDc0NzY2ZDQyZGZiYjk5YWU6cDpU)
(Covid Severity Test) and the first commercially available microarray kit for
high-resolution 3D genome profiling and biomarker discovery, EpiSwitch®
Explorer Array Kit
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/store.oxfordbiodynamics.com/___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86OTRjOGE5ZDRmYWIwMTc2MWFhZjYyZTZkMWJhZTFmNDg6NjpiMWU2OjMzMTc0NWQ5ZWZhODg0MmY1N2EzZjY2YWRkZDI5YjBkOTRhM2M0ZTZkOGJkNWM2Y2I5MDE4MmQ4M2Y4ZjViMDY6cDpU)
, which is available for purchase by the life science research community.

The Company's product portfolio is based on a proprietary 3D genomic biomarker
platform, EpiSwitch®, which can build molecular diagnostic classifiers for
the prediction of response to therapy, patient prognosis, disease diagnosis
and subtyping, and residual disease monitoring in a wide range of indications.

Oxford BioDynamics has participated in more than 40 partnerships with big
pharma and leading institutions including Pfizer, EMD Serono, Genentech,
Roche, Biogen, Mayo Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital and Mitsubishi
Tanabe Pharma.

The Company has created a valuable technology portfolio, including biomarker
arrays, molecular diagnostic tests, bioinformatic tools for 3D genomics and an
expertly curated 3D genome knowledgebase comprising hundreds of millions of
data points from over 15,000 samples in more than 30 human diseases.

OBD is headquartered in Oxford, UK and is listed on AIM of the London Stock
Exchange. It also has a commercial office in Gaithersburg and a clinical
laboratory in Frederick, MD, USA, and a reference laboratory in Penang,
Malaysia.

For more information, please visit the Company's website,
www.oxfordbiodynamics.com
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___http:/www.oxfordbiodynamics.com___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86OTRjOGE5ZDRmYWIwMTc2MWFhZjYyZTZkMWJhZTFmNDg6Njo3ZjFmOjUxZjRiNmRmMzBiMGI3ZjA2NDJjNjFkZTc2MTM5MThjYjUxZGNiN2ZhNmRhNWRkMjY0MTAwNWY4ODA3ZjE4ZjU6cDpU)
, or follow OBD on Twitter
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/twitter.com/OxBioDynamics___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86OTRjOGE5ZDRmYWIwMTc2MWFhZjYyZTZkMWJhZTFmNDg6NjplM2FmOjIwMTI1ZWNlOWJkYjRjZDQ1YjA4YWI2NDc0NWY1OWYzNzg1NTEzYjM0NjIwYTZmNTljNjk0YTQ1YzBkMjg0OTM6cDpU)
(@OxBioDynamics) and LinkedIn
(https://url.avanan.click/v2/___https:/www.linkedin.com/company/oxford-biodynamics___.YXAxZTpzaG9yZWNhcDphOm86OTRjOGE5ZDRmYWIwMTc2MWFhZjYyZTZkMWJhZTFmNDg6Njo2YjgzOjcwMGI3YTM5ODdkMDVmNjA5ZDgxN2FmYWVjYTJkMjIzM2E3NTgzYzM0ZGIzMGIyZDIyYWZlZTVjN2QyZmY4ZGQ6cDpU)
.

About EpiSwitch®

The 3D configuration of the genome plays a crucial role in gene regulation. By
mapping this architecture and identifying abnormal configurations, EpiSwitch®
can be used to diagnose patients or determine how individuals might respond to
a disease or treatment.

Built on over 10 years of research, EpiSwitch® is Oxford Biodynamics'
award-winning, proprietary platform that enables screening, evaluation,
validation and monitoring of 3D genomic biomarkers. The technology is fully
developed, based on testing of over 15,000 samples in 30 disease areas, and
reduced to practice.

In addition to stratifying patients with respect to anticipated clinical
outcomes, EpiSwitch® data offer insights into systems biology and the
physiological manifestation of disease that are beyond the scope of other
molecular modalities. The technology has performed well in academic medical
research settings and has been validated through its integration in biomarker
discovery and clinical development with big pharma.

About Bupa UK

Bupa's purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and
making a better world. Health insurance accounts for a large part of our
business with Bupa UK Insurance, the UK's leading health insurer, providing
health and dental insurance to over 3 million people. Bupa Global is the
premium health insurance arm of Bupa, serving 460,000 customers around the
world. Bupa Dental Care is the leading provider of dentistry in the UK,
providing dental services in 475 centres across the UK and Ireland. Bupa Care
Services has around 6,600 residents in over 121 care homes, and 10 Richmond
care villages. Bupa Health Services comprises 52 health clinics, and the
Cromwell Hospital in London which provides care for insured, self-pay and
international patients. Bupa directly employs around 23,000 people in the UK.

 

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