NEW YORK, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- IMPATH Inc. (Nasdaq: IMPH - news), the nation's leading cancer information company, today announced an agreement with Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABGX - news), a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development and commercialization of antibody therapies for a variety of diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, IMPATH Predictive Oncology(TM) division (``IPO'') will expedite screening of potential therapeutic targets and Abgenix's Xeno Mouse(TM)-generated fully human, monoclonal antibody product candidates in the field of oncology using IMPATH's proprietary ``OptimArray(TM)'' technology platform. Further, IPO will evaluate target expression in tissue arrays containing a variety of normal tissues and malignant specimens, enabling Abgenix to identify potential diagnostic and therapeutic products in an accelerated and highly efficient manner. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Commenting on the agreement, Anu D. Saad, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of IMPATH, said, ``We are very pleased to be expanding our relationship with Abgenix. We believe IMPATH Predictive Oncology is in a unique position to offer advanced product validation services to Abgenix by utilizing our unmatched expertise in the area of tumor-specific immunohistochemical assay development and optimization and the IMPATH Genebank(TM) tissue and serology repository of human tissue specimens with detailed outcomes-focused information.''
``We are pleased to enter into this collaboration with IMPATH, a company with substantial expertise in molecular pathology,'' said R. Scott Greer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Abgenix. ``IMPATH's broad collection of high-quality diseased and normal tissue samples will be coupled with Abgenix's antibody-based target validation capabilities to allow us to rapidly move our genomics-derived targets towards the clinic.''
IMPATH Inc. is in the business of improving outcomes for cancer patients. The Company is the leading source of cancer information and analyses with a database of about 700,000 analyzed cases to date. IMPATH uses sophisticated technologies to provide patient-specific cancer diagnostic and prognostic information to pathologists, oncologists and transplant centers. IMPATH currently serves more than 7,850 physicians specializing in the treatment of cancer patients, in over 1,975 hospitals and 446 oncology practices. Utilizing the Company's comprehensive resources, IMPATH Predictive Oncology serves genomics, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies involved in developing new therapeutics targeted to specific, biological characteristics of cancer... |
