Tularik and Medarex Announce Collaboration to Develop and Commercialize Human Therapeutic Antibodies
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., and PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Tularik Inc. (Nasdaq: TLRK - news) and Medarex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX - news) today announced a collaboration for the development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of a variety of common cancers. Medarex expects to use its UltiMab Human Antibody Development System(SM) to generate fully human antibodies based on three novel oncogenes discovered by Tularik. Oncogenes are genes that, when amplified or mutated, can lead to cancer.
Under the terms of the agreement, each of the two companies is expected to assume certain development responsibilities and costs. Financial terms were not disclosed.
``In recent years, Tularik's Genomics Division has developed a unique and very powerful technology platform for the high-throughput discovery of oncogenes. To date, we have discovered 18 oncogenes from common human tumors, many of which encode either small molecule or antibody targets,'' said David V. Goeddel, Ph.D., Tularik's CEO. ``It has always been our strategy to focus on the development of small molecule drugs. However, we plan to opportunistically partner our oncogene discoveries in the area of antibody therapeutics.''
Dr. Goeddel added, ``We are excited to be working with Medarex. They have excellent technology and an outstanding track record in the development of human monoclonal antibodies. We see this type of collaborative effort as a model for the future development of therapeutic antibodies based on new oncogenes discovered by Tularik.''
Donald L. Drakeman, President and CEO of Medarex, said, ``We are particularly enthusiastic about the novel approach that Tularik has developed for selecting cancer targets. We believe the targets identified by Tularik have the potential to lead to the development of very effective therapeutic antibody drugs.''... |
