Oxford BioTherapeutics (OBT), a clinical-stage oncology company with a pipeline of immuno-oncology (IO) and Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC)-based therapies, has entered a multi-year collaboration with Roche to discover novel potentially first-in-class antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer.

Under the terms of the agreement, targets will be identified via OBT’s recently launched OGAP-Verify discovery platform and validated through the research collaboration. Any further research, development, and commercialization efforts against these targets will be driven by Roche.

OBT will receive up to $36 million in upfront payments from Roche and may be eligible to receive milestone payments potentially exceeding $1 billion, plus product royalties on net sales.

“We are proud to partner with Roche, a global leader in oncology, to accelerate the application of novel cancer targets identified through our proprietary discovery platform, OGAP-Verify,” said Christian Rohlff, PhD, CEO of Oxford BioTherapeutics. “This collaboration builds on our efforts to enhance, validate and advance the discovery of oncology targets, and we look forward to leveraging Roche’s deep expertise to translate these insights into potential new treatments for patients. Our discovery philosophy is very patient centric and Roche’s strength to integrate pharma and diagnostics is unique in the industry.”

“We are excited to enter into this strategic collaboration with OBT. By combining Roche’s expertise in discovering and developing transformative therapeutics with OBT’s innovative target discovery platform, we aim to unlock new possibilities in cancer treatment”, said Boris L. Zaïtra, Head of Corporate Business Development at Roche. “This partnership underscores our commitment to advancing potentially first-in-class antibody-based therapeutics. Together, we aim to accelerate the development of innovative therapies that address major unmet patient needs in oncology.”