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news.US-based Seattle Genetics has entered into a collaboration agreement with Danish biotechnology firm Genmab to develop additional antibody-drug conjugates (ADC).
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As part of the deal, Genmab will pay an upfront fee of $11m for exclusive rights to use Seattle’s auristatin-based ADC technology with its HuMax-AXL, an antibody targeting AXL which is expressed on multiple types of solid cancers.
Seattle Genetics is also eligible to receive over $200m in potential milestone payments and mid-to-high single digit royalties on worldwide net sales of any resulting products from the deal.
Before Genmab starts a Phase III trial for any resulting products, Seattle has the right to exercise an option to increase the royalties to double digits in exchange for a reduction of the milestone payments owed by Genmab.
Seattle Genetics Corporate Development vice president Natasha Hernday said the collaboration with Genmab further extends the reach of the company’s ADC technology for use with new oncology targets, while providing it with a compelling financial value proposition as the program advances.
"Genmab’s impressive track record in the development of antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer, including an ADC in a Phase I clinical trial for solid tumors utilizing Seattle Genetics technology from our first agreement, make them a strong partner for this new collaboration," Hernday said.
Genmab chief executive officer Jan van de Winkel said the new collaboration with Seattle Genetics adds another ADC program to the company’s new pre-clinical pipeline of antibodies developed using the latest technological advances in cancer therapeutics.
"Pre-clinical work identified AXL as an excellent target for an ADC therapeutic approach," van de Winkel said.
"Accessing state-of-the art technology of companies such as Seattle Genetics who are experts in their field provides another means for Genmab to develop differentiated cancer therapeutics while retaining maximal ownership of our therapeutic products."
In September 2010, the two companies have entered into an ADC collaboration for HuMax-TF-ADC, which targets the Tissue Factor antigen.