Making life less short
through the unique management
of cell health and DNA repair
Two of the key requirements for life are DNA and Oxygen. Oxcia is focusing on these key components in its unique O2-DDR technology platform. It has potential to cure diseases and extend lives through careful management of Oxidative stress, Oxidative DNA damage and DNA Damage Response in cells.
The platform is versatile and different therapeutic effects can be achieved depending on which proteins are targeted and how they are modified. It enables addition of oxidative stress to cancer cells to kill them as well as blocking of oxidative stress to stop inflammation so that the body doesn’t overreact and cause patient harm.
Oxcia AB is a pioneer in oxidative DNA damage and DNA Damage Response (DDR – the body’s way of repairing the damage that occurs to DNA). Oxidative stress, oxidative DNA damage and altered DNA damage repair play important roles in e.g genomic instability, epigenetic changes and inflammation- key factors for many conditions that affect us through life.
The two most advanced projects emanating from the O2-DDR technology platform are OXC-101 for cancer and OXC-201 for pulmonary fibrosis. The portfolio also includes exploratory projects, e.g. in psoriasis and non-disclosed discovery projects.
OXC-101
OXC-101 is Oxcia’s lead clinical candidate, an oral first-in class mitotic MTH1 inhibitor with a unique dual mechanism of action. In short, OXC-101, fights cancer by taking advantage of one of the Achilles heels of cancer cells – the high endogenous oxidative stress and DNA damage. The first target indication is AML (acute myeloid leukemia) for which it has been granted Orphan drug status by the FDA. AML is an aggressive blood cancer associated with infection, anemia and bleeding. Oxcia is presently performing a phase 1/2 study.
OXC-201
OXC-201 is a novel oral small molecule OGG1 inhibitor, developed as a ground-breaking new approach for the treatment of IPF (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis). IPF is a progressive lung disease with dramatically reduced breathing capacity, eventually followed by complete lung failure. Present treatments are unsatisfactory. OXC-201 blocks the binding between damaged DNA and the enzyme OGG1. This hinders the onset of as well as the ongoing inflammation and fibrosis. Oxcia has received a grant from the European Innovation Council (EIC) for the pre-clinical and phase 1a development for OXC-201. Besides IPF, OXC-201 has potential in a number of other fibrotic and inflammatory indications.