OXIS International, Inc. (OTCMKTS:OXIS) subsidiary, Oxis Biotech, Inc. highlighted certain parts of its immunotherapeutic development strategy with investors and shareholders. Anthony J. Cataldo, the Chief Executive Officer said that Oxis Biotech focus is on formulating immunotherapies for the treatment of “triple-negative” breast cancer. It will also work on treatments for multiple myeloma and related osteolytic lesions.
The development
OXIS International subsidiary is pursing the development activities of targeted immunotherapies with its associate, MultiCell Immunotherapeutics. MCIT’s antibody-drug conjugate platform technology works on unique multivalent and cleavable linkers that permit tethered drugs to be released extracellularly or intracellularly after association of the antibody to the target cell. Moreover, the MCIT linkers are developed to link multiple drugs per targeting antibody. They are intended to release the drugs in original form without any modification of the drug.
The bispecific immune cell engagers
Apart from developing traditional ADCs, OXIS International subsidiary is also working on bispecific immune cell engagers. It can be defined as a class of monoclonal antibodies. The function is to direct an individual’s immune system to attack cancer cells. In clear terms, bispecific immune cell engagers have a part of the monoclonal antibody that recognizes an immune cell like a cytotoxic T-cell. It also consist a part of a varied monoclonal antibody that recognizes the cancer cell.
The impact
The company said when given as a therapeutic, the “bispecific immune cell engager” forces cytotoxic T-cells to come in contact with the target cancer cell. It is at the same time when the cytotoxic T-cell attacks and kills the cancer cell. In last trading session, the stock price of Oxis International declined more than 10% to close the trading session at $0.0305. The decline came at a share volume of 6.15 million, higher than average share volume of 5.47 million. The company has a market cap of 18.30 million.
