Following its acquisition last year of fellow UK biotechnology company KS Biomedix, Xenova has announced that it will sell part of the KS Biomedix business to Bioventix, a new UK biotechnology company set up by former employees of KS Biomedix, for £800 000.

The sale includes some of the premises at KS Biomedix's Farnham research facility and certain rights to intellectual property relating to super high-affinity antibodies that are not being developed by Xenova. In addition, the deal allows Bioventix to continue KS Biomedix's work on three-part proteins (trimers), which it was developing under an option agreement with Isis Innovation, Oxford University's investment company. However, Xenova will retain an option to develop any promising therapeutic candidates arising from this work. Seven research scientists will also transfer to Bioventix.

According to David Oxlade, Xenova's chief executive, the sale is in line with the firm's strategy of focusing on its clinical portfolio and generating cost savings through disposals.

Bioventix was set up specifically to acquire these KS Biomedix assets from Xenova and will be run by Peter Harrison, a former employee of KS Biomedix. The company aims to develop and commercialise antibodies and antibody fragments, initially derived from sheep, as diagnostic and therapeutic products. Bioventix will also work on developing novel trimeric antibodies for use in targeting soft tumours. 

JE