– Milestone achievement triggers 2.5 million Euro payment to Micromet
BETHESDA, MD, USA | November 8, 2010 | Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ:MITI – News) today announced plans to advance the Company’s BiTE antibody MT112/BAY 2010112 into formal preclinical development in collaboration with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany. Taking this next step toward an IND-filing triggers a 2.5 million Euro (approximately $3.5 million) milestone payment to Micromet. The product candidate, which is being developed for the treatment of patients with solid tumors, was generated by Micromet using its proprietary BiTE technology.
Micromet and Bayer Schering Pharma are developing MT112/BAY 2010112 under a collaboration and license agreement signed in January 2009. Micromet is primarily responsible for the preclinical development of the BiTE antibody, and will collaborate with Bayer Schering Pharma through the completion of Phase 1 clinical trials. After completion of Phase 1 trials, Bayer Schering Pharma will assume full control of clinical development and commercialization of the BiTE antibody. Micromet is eligible to receive progress-dependent milestone payments and up to double-digit royalties on future potential tiered net sales of this product candidate.
“We are very pleased with the rapid progress achieved under this collaboration since its inception in 2009,” said Jens Hennecke, Ph.D., Micromet’s Senior Vice President, Business Development. “We look forward to continuing to work with Bayer Schering Pharma to advance this BiTE antibody into clinical development.”
About BiTE Antibodies
BiTE® antibodies are designed to direct the body’s cytotoxic, or cell-destroying, T cells against tumor cells, and represent a new therapeutic approach to cancer therapy. Typically, antibodies cannot engage T cells because T cells lack the appropriate receptors for binding antibodies. BiTE antibodies have been shown to bind T cells to tumor cells, ultimately inducing a self-destruction process in the tumor cells referred to as apoptosis, or programmed cell death. In the presence of BiTE antibodies, T cells have been demonstrated to serially eliminate tumor cells, which explains the activity of BiTE antibodies at very low concentrations. Through the killing process, T cells start to proliferate, which leads to an increased number of T cells at the site of attack.
About Micromet, Inc.
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. Its product development pipeline includes novel antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE® technology, as well as conventional monoclonal antibodies. The Company’s lead product candidate blinatumomab (MT103) is currently the subject of a pivotal trial in patients with minimal residual disease positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Micromet has collaborations with a number of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Bayer Schering Pharma, Boehringer Ingelheim, MedImmune, Merck Serono, Nycomed and sanofi-aventis. Additional information can be found at www.micromet.com.
SOURCE: Micromet, Inc.
Post Views: 45
– Milestone achievement triggers 2.5 million Euro payment to Micromet
BETHESDA, MD, USA | November 8, 2010 | Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ:MITI – News) today announced plans to advance the Company’s BiTE antibody MT112/BAY 2010112 into formal preclinical development in collaboration with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany. Taking this next step toward an IND-filing triggers a 2.5 million Euro (approximately $3.5 million) milestone payment to Micromet. The product candidate, which is being developed for the treatment of patients with solid tumors, was generated by Micromet using its proprietary BiTE technology.
Micromet and Bayer Schering Pharma are developing MT112/BAY 2010112 under a collaboration and license agreement signed in January 2009. Micromet is primarily responsible for the preclinical development of the BiTE antibody, and will collaborate with Bayer Schering Pharma through the completion of Phase 1 clinical trials. After completion of Phase 1 trials, Bayer Schering Pharma will assume full control of clinical development and commercialization of the BiTE antibody. Micromet is eligible to receive progress-dependent milestone payments and up to double-digit royalties on future potential tiered net sales of this product candidate.
“We are very pleased with the rapid progress achieved under this collaboration since its inception in 2009,” said Jens Hennecke, Ph.D., Micromet’s Senior Vice President, Business Development. “We look forward to continuing to work with Bayer Schering Pharma to advance this BiTE antibody into clinical development.”
About BiTE Antibodies
BiTE® antibodies are designed to direct the body’s cytotoxic, or cell-destroying, T cells against tumor cells, and represent a new therapeutic approach to cancer therapy. Typically, antibodies cannot engage T cells because T cells lack the appropriate receptors for binding antibodies. BiTE antibodies have been shown to bind T cells to tumor cells, ultimately inducing a self-destruction process in the tumor cells referred to as apoptosis, or programmed cell death. In the presence of BiTE antibodies, T cells have been demonstrated to serially eliminate tumor cells, which explains the activity of BiTE antibodies at very low concentrations. Through the killing process, T cells start to proliferate, which leads to an increased number of T cells at the site of attack.
About Micromet, Inc.
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. Its product development pipeline includes novel antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE® technology, as well as conventional monoclonal antibodies. The Company’s lead product candidate blinatumomab (MT103) is currently the subject of a pivotal trial in patients with minimal residual disease positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Micromet has collaborations with a number of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Bayer Schering Pharma, Boehringer Ingelheim, MedImmune, Merck Serono, Nycomed and sanofi-aventis. Additional information can be found at www.micromet.com.
SOURCE: Micromet, Inc.
Post Views: 45
