latest News
OxStem Featured in Nature
OxStem are delighted to be featured in the May 2017 issue of Nature in an article entitled “Masters of Medicine”. OxStem was selected as one of six innovative and disruptive University start-up biotechnology companies from around the world to be profiled in the article.
OXSTEM FEATURED ON BBC NEWS
Professor Angela Russell, co-founder of OxStem, was interviewed for regional news programme BBC South Today broadcast on 13th January. OxStem was highlighted as a major success story for Oxford University Innovation (“OUI”), the University of Oxford’s technology transfer office. OUI celebrated a record-breaking year in 2016 facilitating 24 spin-out companies representing £52.6m of investment; five of the 24 new spin-outs were OxStem companies, amounting to £16.9m of the total investment into the University.
OxStem Limited Establishes a Fourth Subsidiary Company: OxStem Cardio
Please see our full press release here
OxStem Ltd today launched its fourth subsidiary company – OxStem Cardio. Following the spin-out of OxStem Ltd from the University of Oxford in May 2016, the company has already established three subsidiaries each with a specific disease focus: OxStem Oncology, OxStem Neuro and OxStem Ocular. OxStem Cardio is the latest addition to the portfolio, set up with the intention of treating heart disease. The new subsidiary is cofounded by four pioneering scientists; chemists Prof Steve Davies and Prof Angela Russell are joined by cardiovascular and stem cell experts Prof Paul Riley and Prof Roger Patient.
Prof Angela Russell and Dr Carolyn Porter Named as 'Movers and Shakers' in BioBusiness
OxStem co-founder Prof Angela Russell and OxStem Board Member Dr Carolyn Porter have been named as 'Movers and Shakers' in the BioBeat 50 Movers and Shakers in BioBusiness 2016 report, with Prof Russell additionally being named a 'Rising Star'. The report is released annually and celebrates 50 outstanding women entrepreneurs and business leaders who are recognised for their contributions to global health innovation. BioBeat’s founder Miranda Weston-Smith said that the report highlights those women who are “transforming today’s challenges into tomorrow’s opportunities” and are inspirational “pioneers who are setting the pace in laboratories, healthcare, entrepreneurial companies …“ among others.
Angela Russell, Associate Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Departments of Chemistry and Pharmacology at the University of Oxford and co-founder of OxStem Ltd (www.oxstem.co.uk) said “I am delighted to have been recognised in this report standing alongside some exceptional bioscience business leaders in the field. Our research at OxStem has the potential to impact on the healthcare of millions worldwide with the approach of developing small molecule drugs in a wide range of therapeutic areas including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and heart failure. I hope that my nomination, together with the women featured in this report, helps to inspire the next generation of bioscience entrepreneurs”.
OxStem Win National Award for Best Biotech Start Up 2016
OxStem have been selected as winners of the OBN Best Biotech Start Up Award 2016! The OBN awards are an annual event, now in their 8th year, that celebrate innovation and achievement across the UK life sciences Industry. John Harris, CEO of OBN, said: "We are thrilled with the high quality of nominees this year which made picking just one winner in each category very difficult”. OxStem was congratulated for our disruptive approach to the field of regenerative medicine. We are continually grateful to and thankful for all our supporters who have helped bring our vision to reality, and are honoured to be recognised with this award.
Oncology
OxStem Oncology aims to develop a unique treatment for a wide range of tumour types. While current methods can remove the majority of the tumour, the ‘cancer stem-like cells’ (CSLCs) account for a very small proportion of the tumour and can persist unaffected by numerous therapeutic interventions. OxStem Oncology aims to identify a new class of drugs that will differentiate CSLCs to more benign states and improve clinical outcomes and overcome resistance/relapse.
NEURO
OxStem Neuro will identify a new class of drugs that will stimulate de novo neuron production from neural stem cells that will compensate for disease pathology in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, and restore cognitive function. OxStem Neuro’s approach aims to significantly reduce the impact of the disease on cognitive function, by replenishing the lost neurons.
Ocular
OxStem Ocular aims to devise treatments for degenerate retinopathies by identifying a new class of drugs that will stimulate appropriate precursor cells within the retina of patients and increase the photoreceptor numbers to restore vision. The identification of small molecules able to repair damaged cells in vivo following intraocular injection or, ideally, oral delivery would represent a step change, overcoming many of the limitations of current therapies.