Micromet announced the presentation of pre-clinical data on its BiTE antibody MT112/BAY 2010112, discovered and developed in collaboration with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Orlando, Florida
BETHESDA, MD, USA | April 5, 2011 | Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ:MITI – News), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of next-generation antibodies for the treatment of cancer, today announced the presentation of pre-clinical data on its BiTE antibody MT112/BAY 2010112, discovered and developed in collaboration with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Orlando, Florida. MT112/ BAY 2010112 is designed to direct a patient’s T cells, the body’s most potent killer cells, against cancer cells that express prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA). PSMA is a target protein that is highly and specifically expressed in the majority of human prostate cancer patients1.
Data presented at AACR (poster # 4561) demonstrate the potent activity of the BiTE antibody against human cancer cell lines and inhibition of tumor growth in animal models. MT112/ BAY 2010112 directed human and non-human primate T cells against PSMA-positive human prostate cancer cells, resulting in highly efficient cancer cell destruction. In mice, daily doses of MT112/BAY 2010112 as low as 0.05 milligram/kilogram were sufficient to inhibit growth of tumors from human prostate cancer cells.
“PSMA is a well established prostate cancer target for antibody-based therapeutic approaches,” said Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D., Micromet’s Chief Scientific Officer. “Data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting suggest a high therapeutic potential for MT112/ BAY 2010112 for the treatment of prostate cancer.”
Micromet is advancing the development of MT112/BAY 2010112 under a collaboration and license agreement signed with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany, in January 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, Micromet is primarily responsible for the preclinical development of this BiTE antibody, and will collaborate with Bayer through completion of Phase 1 clinical trials. Beginning in Phase 2, Bayer will assume full control of clinical development and commercialization of MT112/BAY 2010112. Micromet is eligible to receive progress-dependent milestone payments and royalties on future potential tiered net sales of this product candidate.
During the course of the meeting, the Company also presented preclinical data on MT110, its BiTE antibody targeting epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). Results reported (poster # 1790) provide further validation of EpCAM as a cancer stem cell target, and show utility of MT110 to eradicate cancer stem cells derived from breast and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Both abstracts can be accessed through the AACR website, www.aacr.org. Posters will be accessible from Micromet’s website at www.micromet.com after they are presented.
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
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 European 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 Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, MedImmune, Merck Serono, Nycomed and sanofi-aventis. Additional information can be found at www.micromet.com.
Reference:
1. Curr Drug Targets. 2009 Feb;10(2):118-25.
SOURCE: Micromet, Inc.
Post Views: 57
Micromet announced the presentation of pre-clinical data on its BiTE antibody MT112/BAY 2010112, discovered and developed in collaboration with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Orlando, Florida
BETHESDA, MD, USA | April 5, 2011 | Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ:MITI – News), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of next-generation antibodies for the treatment of cancer, today announced the presentation of pre-clinical data on its BiTE antibody MT112/BAY 2010112, discovered and developed in collaboration with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Orlando, Florida. MT112/ BAY 2010112 is designed to direct a patient’s T cells, the body’s most potent killer cells, against cancer cells that express prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA). PSMA is a target protein that is highly and specifically expressed in the majority of human prostate cancer patients1.
Data presented at AACR (poster # 4561) demonstrate the potent activity of the BiTE antibody against human cancer cell lines and inhibition of tumor growth in animal models. MT112/ BAY 2010112 directed human and non-human primate T cells against PSMA-positive human prostate cancer cells, resulting in highly efficient cancer cell destruction. In mice, daily doses of MT112/BAY 2010112 as low as 0.05 milligram/kilogram were sufficient to inhibit growth of tumors from human prostate cancer cells.
“PSMA is a well established prostate cancer target for antibody-based therapeutic approaches,” said Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D., Micromet’s Chief Scientific Officer. “Data presented at the AACR Annual Meeting suggest a high therapeutic potential for MT112/ BAY 2010112 for the treatment of prostate cancer.”
Micromet is advancing the development of MT112/BAY 2010112 under a collaboration and license agreement signed with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany, in January 2009. Under the terms of the agreement, Micromet is primarily responsible for the preclinical development of this BiTE antibody, and will collaborate with Bayer through completion of Phase 1 clinical trials. Beginning in Phase 2, Bayer will assume full control of clinical development and commercialization of MT112/BAY 2010112. Micromet is eligible to receive progress-dependent milestone payments and royalties on future potential tiered net sales of this product candidate.
During the course of the meeting, the Company also presented preclinical data on MT110, its BiTE antibody targeting epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM). Results reported (poster # 1790) provide further validation of EpCAM as a cancer stem cell target, and show utility of MT110 to eradicate cancer stem cells derived from breast and hepatocellular carcinoma.
Both abstracts can be accessed through the AACR website, www.aacr.org. Posters will be accessible from Micromet’s website at www.micromet.com after they are presented.
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
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 European 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 Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, MedImmune, Merck Serono, Nycomed and sanofi-aventis. Additional information can be found at www.micromet.com.
Reference:
1. Curr Drug Targets. 2009 Feb;10(2):118-25.
SOURCE: Micromet, Inc.
Post Views: 57
