Seattle Buys Into Future of Genmab ADC Deal
Executive Summary
In a six-year-old collaboration with Genmab, Seattle Genetics has decided to exercise its option to co-develop and co-commercialize tisotumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate for solid tumors, granting both companies a 50:50 share.
Seattle Genetics Inc. has decided to exercise its option to co-develop tisotumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) currently in Phase I/II trials for solid tumors, under a six-year-old collaboration with Genmab AS. Both companies will now equally share future costs and profits for the product, giving Seattle rights to commercialize in the US, Canada and Mexico and Genmab the remaining territories.
Under a commercial license and collaboration agreement from Oct. 2011, Genmab was given rights to use Seattle's ADC technology and Seattle was granted the rights to exercise a co-development and co-commercialization option at the end of Phase I development for tisotumab vedotin, a right it has now exercised (Also see "Genmab, Seattle expand ADC collaboration with HuMax-CD74" - Scrip, 19 Apr, 2011.). The two first entered a research collaboration in Sept. 2010 for Genmab's HuMax-TF antibody, an antibody targeting the tissue factor antigen expressed on various types of solid tumors; including pancreatic and colon cancers (Also see "New strategy sees Genmab land antibody research deal with Seattle Genetics" - Scrip, 15 Sep, 2010.). In April 2011 another collaboration was established for HuMax-CD74.
ADCs are made up of monoclonal antibodies targeting tumors, linked to cell-killing agents, which are released at the target site. At the moment, tisotumab vedotin is in Phase I/II clinical studies (GEN701) for solid tumors, preliminary data for which was announced in June 2017. The data suggested antitumor activity and safety in recurrent cervical cancer patients and an update for this study will be presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 2017 in September.
Bryan, Garnier & Co analysts said in a 30 August note that considering Seattle Genetics exercised its option on the basis of preliminary data, and agreed to equally share the costs and profits from early stages of development, "we can deduce that the results might be encouraging or even good."
In Sept. 2014, the two companies signed a second ADC deal in which Genmab was granted exclusive rights to use Seattle Genetics' technology to develop ADCs containing Genmab's HuMax-AXL antibody. This antibody targets AXL, a signaling molecule involved in tumor development and cancer progression.
Seattle Genetics's ADC technology is being used for more than 20 candidates in clinical trials, as well as in its CD30-targeting marketed drug Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin), which is approved for Hodgkin lymphoma and systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma and for which the company booked $266m in 2016 sales. Seattle has ADC co-development agreements with Astellas Pharma Inc. and Genmab, while a number of other companies, including AbbVie Inc., Bayer AG, Genentech Inc., Pfizer Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC, have licensed the technology for in-house development and commercialization programs.