XOMA wins $28 million US contract for botulism antitoxin
This article was originally published in Scrip
XOMA secured a five-year $28 million contract with the US government to develop broad-spectrum antitoxins to treat human botulism poisoning.
But despite the good news, the Berkeley, California-based biotech's shares slumped as low as 14.3%, or 25 cents, on 3 October, before closing at $1.54, a loss of 21 cents, or 12%.
Botulinum toxin, one of the most lethal poisons, is classified as the highest level, bio-terror threat by the US government, or Class A.
Exposure to the botulinum neurotoxin can cause muscle paralysis, which can eventually lead to death. Botulism can be acquired through consumption of contaminated foods or through infection of a wound.
"There is a critical need for new treatments for botulism poisoning which offer both broad subtype coverage and more convenient administration, especially in emergency settings," said Dr Patrick J Scannon, XOMA's executive vice president and chief scientific officer.
To date, XOMA has entered into four contracts totaling up to about $120 million with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to advance biodefense-related product development.
"The success of our prior NIAID contracts for anti-botulism antibody products to Types A, B, and E toxins demonstrates the utility of XOMA's antibody development platform for biodefense applications," Dr Scannon said. "It provides a strong foundation for this new contract, which will expand our efforts to include Type C and Type D antitoxins."
The first product candidate developed by XOMA through NIAID contracts, XOMA 3AB, is an antibody co-mixture for Type A botulism poisoning. It currently is in a Phase I clinical trial sponsored by the agency.
XOMA also has product candidates for Type B and Type E botulism poisoning in earlier development.
XOMA's botulism antitoxin programmes are based in part on research conducted by Dr James D Marks, a professor of anesthesia at the University of California, San Francisco, whose laboratory demonstrated for the first time that multiple whole antibodies can achieve maximum effectiveness against botulinum toxins at very low doses.
XOMA also is developing a humanized antibody that binds to the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta, known as XOMA 052, which is expected to soon enter Phase III clinical development in Behcet's uveitis, an orphan indication. The compound is partnered with Les Laboratoires Servier.