Our Science
Discovering Breakthrough Cancer Therapies With Our Powerful Proprietary OGAP®-Verify Platform
At Oxford BioTherapeutics, our oncology discovery capabilities span a diverse range of modalities, all underpinned by our proprietary target discovery platform OGAP®-Verify that drives our mission to develop breakthrough cancer therapies.
OBT’s Proprietary Platform OGAP®-Verify, is the World’s Largest Cancer-Specific Membrane Protein Library
OGAP®-Verify is the world’s largest proprietary membrane protein abundance database, containing data on approximately 7,000 membrane proteins across most solid and hematological malignancies, as well as normal tissues. Data has been generated using quantitative mass spectrometry directly on patient cancer biopsies and normal tissues. High sensitivity allows detection of membrane proteins at 50 copies-per-cell on the cell’s surface. The sensitivity surpasses IHC and de-risks selection of new oncology targets. Average abundance of the tumour antigen target in patient tissue samples can be estimated allowing drug modality and payload selection.
Unlocking the Potential of Cancer-Specific Splice Variants
There are 20,000 protein coding genes of which 95% undergo alternative splicing, resulting in 100,000 splice variants. OBT’s proprietary OGAP®-Splice, one of the world's largest cancer-specific protein expression splice variant databases, is revolutionising oncology target discovery. Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), OGAP®-Splice identifies novel, cell surface-expressed splice variants, offering an entirely new class of targets for antibody-based therapeutics. Our unique platform is advancing the development of first-in-class therapies and supporting key industry partnerships. Notably, a new cancer-specific splice variant, is in preclinical development through our collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. OGAP®-Splice is set to launch as a fully validated platform within the next 12 months, expanding its capabilities to further accelerate target discovery and therapeutic development.
Validation of New Drug Targets
Once new therapeutic drug targets have been selected using OGAP®-Verify, they undergo extensive wet-bench experimental validation. This process uses the combined expertise of our protein science, cell biology, antibody discovery, and histopathology teams to confirm cell surface expression, antibody targetability and cancer and normal tissue expression profiles. Our teams develop essential reagent, such as immunogens, monoclonal antibodies and cell lines, ensuring robust support for therapeutic target development through all stages of the drug discovery process.