Ox­i­tope Phar­ma

Oxitope Pharma B.V. was a Dutch biopharmaceutical company established in March 2020, focusing on the discovery and early clinical development of treatments for diseases driven by oxidative stress. The company was founded and received initial seed funding from Forbion, a European life sciences venture capital firm. Oxitope Pharma's scientific foundation is built upon over 40 years of research by its co-founders, Professor Joe Witztum and Professor Sam Tsimikas from the University of California San Diego (UCSD). Their work, licensed by the company from UCSD, centers on Oxidation Specific Epitopes (OSEs), which are key drivers in a variety of inflammatory, cardiovascular, and fibrotic diseases.

The company's core business was developing a portfolio of antibody and gene therapy products. Its therapeutic strategy involved creating first-in-class, antibody-based therapies to target and neutralize OSEs, which are formed due to oxidative stress and contribute to unhealthy aging and numerous diseases like atherosclerosis and organ reperfusion injury. The business model was centered on drug discovery and early-stage development, with the goal of forming partnerships and licensing agreements with larger pharmaceutical companies for late-stage clinical development and marketing. In October 2021, a consortium led by Oxitope received a €1 million (US$1.2 million) grant from the Eurostars program to advance the generation and optimization of its antibodies. The company had raised a total of $2.72 million.

In January 2024, Oxitope Pharma merged with Arxx Therapeutics to form a new clinical-stage entity, Calluna Pharma Inc. This merger was accompanied by a €75 million Series A financing round led by Forbion and supported by Arxx's investors. The combined company, Calluna Pharma, integrates the expertise of both predecessors to develop therapies targeting innate immune amplifiers for immunological, inflammatory, and fibrotic diseases. One of Oxitope's key programs, now designated CAL102 under Calluna, is a monoclonal antibody that neutralizes oxidized phospholipids and has shown efficacy in preclinical models.

Keywords: Oxitope Pharma, Calluna Pharma, oxidative stress, Oxidation Specific Epitopes, OSEs, antibody therapies, gene therapy, inflammatory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, fibrotic diseases, Forbion, Joe Witztum, Sam Tsimikas, University of California San Diego, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical, preclinical, monoclonal antibody, innate immunity, Arxx Therapeutics, CAL102