Amgen Enters Cancer Biologics Deal With Oxford Genome Sciences
This article was originally published in The Pink Sheet Daily
Executive Summary
Collaboration is the second in recent months to involve Amgen’s XenoMouse human monoclonal antibody generating technology.
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Amgen and Oxford Genome Sciences have signed a collaborative agreement that matches Amgen's XenoMouse technology with OGeS' cancer protein database to discover, develop and commercialize novel anti-cancer antibodies, the companies announced Dec. 17. Cancer targets for the human monoclonal antibodies will come from among the novel druggable targets OGeS, in Oxford, U.K., has identified through its Oxford Genome Anatomy Project database. The cancer protein database is the world's largest, according to OGeS. Fully human mAbs against those targets will be generated using the XenoMouse technology Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen gained in its 2006 acquisition of Vectibix (panitumumab) partner Abgenix (1 (Also see "Amgen To Acquire Panitumumab Development Partner Abgenix" - Pink Sheet, 14 Dec, 2005.)). Once Amgen produces the antibody leads, OGeS will carry out the initial preclinical assessment of each program, the firms said. The agreement covers up to six oncology programs; Amgen has the right to select up to three, while OGeS retains rights to those Amgen leaves on the table. "We felt that was a great combination," Amgen told "The Pink Sheet" DAILY. "The thing that we found really attractive about the deal is, of course, it uses the XenoMouse technology, but it also takes advantage of the two things the companies do, which for Amgen is our monoclonal antibody technology, and with them, it's the database they've established." The OGeS deal is the second for Amgen involving the XenoMouse. The first, which was announced in January but only recently signed, is with a public/private consortium in Australia - the government-sponsored Cooperative Research Centre for Biomarker Translation. Located in the La Trobe University Research and Development Park on the university's Melbourne campus, the CRC's goal is to develop diagnostic and therapeutic agents for cancer and autoimmune diseases. Amgen's primary interest in the collaboration is the discovery of new biomarkers that might be used to target cancer cells, a release from La Trobe states. OGeS also is partnered with Princeton, N.J.-based Medarex and diagnostics developer Biosite in a three-way relationship that gives the U.K. firm access to a second technology for generating fully human mAbs. OGeS' goal is to become a development-stage company with its own pipeline of cancer therapeutics and diagnostics, the firm said. In September, OGeS updated an existing deal with Medarex, gaining access to the firm's transgenic mouse technology to generate antibody therapeutics against targets identified in its database. OGeS retains full worldwide rights to the new human mAbs and will pay Medarex licensing fees, milestone payments and royalties on commercial sales of products from the collaboration. Under a parallel agreement with Biosite, the company will generate early-stage antibodies for a "potentially large" number of OGeS programs. In exchange, Biosite receives access to the OGeS diagnostic targets in colorectal and ovarian cancer. In addition, Biosite has the option to develop a companion diagnostic assay on certain programs selected by Biosite and OGeS, providing the U.K. firm with "the opportunity to create a significant portfolio of personalized cancer therapeutics with companion diagnostics for many of its oncology targets," OGeS said. In November, Inverness Medical Innovations announced plans to acquire Biosite (2 (Also see "Inverness Acquisition Surge Continues" - Pink Sheet, 6 Nov, 2007.)). -Shirley Haley ([email protected]) |