INGELHEIM, Germany, and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ Boehringer Ingelheim and ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN - News) today announced the achievement of a milestone -- the initiation of clinical trials -- in their collaboration to develop a novel anti-cancer agent using ImmunoGen's DM1 Tumor-Activated Prodrug (TAP) technology with Boehringer Ingelheim's anti- CD44v6 antibody. This accomplishment with the product candidate bivatuzumab mertansine triggers payment of an undisclosed amount by Boehringer Ingelheim to ImmunoGen.
Wolfgang J. Rettig, M.D., Ph.D., Head of Research and Development at Boehringer Ingelheim Austria in Vienna, the corporation's dedicated drug discovery center for innovative cancer medicines said, "We are encouraged by the preclinical profile of bivatuzumab mertansine and are pleased to advance this product candidate into clinical testing."
Mitchel Sayare, Ph.D., ImmunoGen Chairman and CEO, commented, "Boehringer Ingelheim has made excellent progress in their development of a novel anti- cancer product using our DM1 TAP technology with their anti-CD44v6 antibody. The achievements by our licensing partners in development of TAP products help expand the body of experience with our technology and increase its visibility in the scientific and medical community."
In November 2001, the companies announced that Boehringer Ingelheim had licensed the right to develop and commercialize products that use ImmunoGen's maytansinoid TAP technology with antibodies that target CD44, such as Boehringer Ingelheim's anti-CD44v6 antibody. ImmunoGen received an upfront payment at the time. Under the agreement, ImmunoGen also receives milestone payments plus royalties on net product sales.... |
