SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF
THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report: September 23, 1998
(Date of earliest event reported)
OXiGENE, INC.
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 000-21990 13-3679168
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(State or other jurisdiction (Commission File (IRS Employer Identification
of incorporation) Number) Number)
One Copley Place, Suite 602, Boston, Massachusetts 02116
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (617) 536-9500
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Item 5. Other Materially Important Events
On September 23, 1998, the Registrant issued a press release, a copy of
which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1, announcing pre-clinical data regarding
Combretastatin presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the European Society for
Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.
Item 7. Financial Statements, Pro Forma Financial Information and Exhibits
(c) Exhibits.
99.1 Press release of the Registrant, dated September 23, 1998.
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Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned herewith duly authorized.
Date: September 24, 1998 OXiGENE, INC.
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(Registrant)
By: /s/ Bo Haglund
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Bo Haglund
Chief Financial Officer
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EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibit
99.1 Press release of the Registrant, dated September 23, 1998.
Researchers demonstrate direct anti-tumor effect of
Combretastatin and show advances in development of
a new gene therapy model
Data presented at 17th Annual Meeting of the European Society for
Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology
Edinburgh, Scotland, September 23, 1998. OXiGENE, Inc. (Nasdaq: OXGN, SSE:
OXGN), an international biopharmaceutical company, announced today that
researchers from University Hospital GHB, KU Leuven, Belgium reported on
pre-clinical data demonstrating that Combretastatin A-4 prodrug (Combretastatin)
had a striking direct anti-tumor effect directed against rat rhabdomyosarcoma
tumors and it was also used to create a hypoxic (low oxygen) environment in
which anaerobic bacteria carrying tumor-killing proteins flourished. Data on
Combretastatin, a vascular targeting agent being developed by OXiGENE, was
presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Therapeutic
Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO).
Willy Landuyt, Ph.D., and his colleagues from the Department of
Experimental Radiobiology/Oncology at University Hospital are investigating a
model of genetic therapy for tumor drug targeting that utilizes anaerobic
bacteria to deliver recombinant proteins capable of converting safe prodrugs
into cytotoxic drugs specifically to a tumor site. The bacteria, which are
injected into the body with the aim of causing bacterial proliferation
specifically in the tumor - but no where else - can only thrive in a state of
hypoxia, or decreased oxygen. Dr. Landuyt reported that a single dose of 25mg/kg
Combretastatin injected into rats with rhabdomyosarcoma tumors caused massive
shutdown of tumor blood vessels, successfully inducing hypoxia within tumors of
varying size and allowing anaerobic bacteria to proliferate within the tumors.
The Combretastatin-induced hypoxia will be used to further test this model and
to potentially develop the anaerobic vector for use in targeted gene therapies.
"We are very excited about Combretastatin's ability to shut down blood flow
to tumors, which resulted in the hypoxic state needed to allow anaerobic
bacteria to flourish specifically at the tumor site," says Dr. Landuyt. "The use
of Combretastatin will enable us to advance the use of anaerobic bacteria as a
targeted vector for gene therapy, of which investigations are in progress. In
addition, the anti-tumor effect of Combretastatin observed in our study speaks
to the impressive action of this particular compound, and the promise it holds
to be a powerful anti-cancer agent."
Combretastatin is the first in a new class of tumor vascular targeting
drugs that are intended to selectively attack and destroy tumor-specific blood
vessels formed by angiogenesis, resulting in a massive rapid and irreversible
shutdown of these blood vessels while leaving normal vasculature unharmed.
OXiGENE plans to clinically develop Combretastatin as a stand alone therapy
which could be used in combination with other therapies. Phase I/II studies of
Combretastatin in patients with advanced stage cancers in the United States and
Europe are scheduled for the second half of 1998.
OXiGENE is an international biopharmaceutical company developing a
portfolio of innovative products to combat cancer and other major diseases. The
Company currently has four products in clinical development, including
Neu-Sensamide, being tested as a radiosensitizer in Phase II and III studies in
patients with non-small cell lung cancer and in a Phase I study in patients with
glioblastoma; OXi-104 (declopramide), being tested as a chemosensitizer in Phase
I/II studies in patients with advanced stage cancers; Cordycepin, which is in a
Phase I/II study in patients with TdT-positive leukemia; and Combretastatin A-4
prodrug, a vascular targeting agent expected to enter Phase I/II studies in the
second half of 1998.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company's actual results or
outcomes to be materially different from those anticipated and discussed in
this press release. Factors that may cause such a difference include, but
are not limited to, those risks and uncertainties associated with the
regulatory approval of the Company's proprietary drugs, and other risks
included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Company's
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission during the past
12 months. Specifically, there can be no assurance that Combretastatin will
meet the expectations of those who are testing it or will prove to have
commercial acceptance.
