Medarex and diaDexus Form Collaboration for the Development of Fully Human Antibody Therapeutics
Wednesday January 29, 6:00 am ET
PRINCETON, N.J. and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire- FirstCall/ -- Medarex, Inc. (Nasdaq: MEDX - News) and diaDexus, Inc. today announced a collaboration for the research and development of fully human antibody therapeutics. Medarex plans to use its UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System(SM) to generate antibodies to disease targets identified by diaDexus.
Under the terms of the agreement, diaDexus and Medarex expect to develop antibodies against novel lung cancer targets. The two companies intend to share the cost of research, development and commercialization as well as potential profits resulting from any products developed through this collaboration.
In addition to the joint development and commercialization agreement, diaDexus expects to use Medarex's UltiMAb(TM) technology to generate antibodies to other therapeutic targets outside the collaboration. diaDexus intends to develop and commercialize these therapeutics on its own. Medarex could receive license fees and milestone payments as well as royalties on commercial sales of any products that diaDexus develops resulting from this second agreement.
"We are delighted to partner with Medarex and gain access to their technology and expertise in fully human antibody therapeutic development," said Patrick Plewman, President and Chief Executive Officer of diaDexus. "We believe this collaboration will enable us to accelerate the transition from targets to therapeutic products jointly in lung cancer, and independently in our other cancer programs."
"This agreement provides us with the opportunity to pair diaDexus' genomically-derived targets with our UltiMAb technology for the development of new cancer therapeutics," said Donald L. Drakeman, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Medarex.
diaDexus, a privately held biotechnology company, based in South San Francisco, California is focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel, patent protected diagnostic and therapeutic products with high clinical value. diaDexus has utilized genomics and bioinformatics to identify numerous disease-associated molecular targets. For more information, please visit www.diaDexus.com. |
