US acquisitions a coup for Cambridge Antibody
pharmafile | November 8, 2005 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Â
Cambridge Antibody Technology has bought two promising oncology candidates from US biotech company Genencor, and has established its first research base outside the UK.
The UK company will take on ten key scientists from Genencor, who will continue to develop the drugs at the facility in Palo Alto, California.
The two molecules are GCR-3888, a treatment of hairy cell leukaemia (HCL) which has shown promise in phase I and is now in phase II and GCR-8015, an optimised version of GCR-3888. The second molecule is in pre-clinical development as a potential treatment for B-cell malignancies including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Both molecules are immunotoxins comprising an antibody fragment that targets the CD22 receptor on B-lymphocytes fused to a toxin molecule.
CAT has paid $16 million to Danisco, a global supplier of food ingredients which bought Genencor in early 2005.
Danisco bought the company for its industrial enzymes expertise, and announced its intention to sell on Genencor's healthcare division in August.
CAT's chief executive Peter Chambre said: "The acquisition of these product candidates is a significant step forward, accelerating the development of our proprietary pipeline. In particular, they signal our intention to focus our proprietary research and development activities in oncology indications, where we believe the opportunities are greatest for a company of CAT's resources and technological capabilities.
"In addition, the transaction has enabled CAT to establish its first presence in the US. We are delighted to welcome the development team associated with these important product candidates to CAT. They provide a core of oncology development expertise to CAT for the future."
CAT's newly acquired molecules were both discovered and initially developed by the government-funded National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
CAT will continue Genencor's licensing agreement with the NIH and will retain intellectual property rights but will have to pay future royalties to the government body.
Martyn Postle, director of consultants Cambridge Healthcare & Biotech commented: "This is clearly a great move for CAT in its evolution towards becoming a therapeutic rather than just a technology company. I am sure there will be many chief executives of European biotech companies wishing they were in Peter Chambre's shoes."
He added: "I also think CAT is right to establish an operation in the crucial US marketplace. Having a listing on NASDAQ is not the same as being on the ground."
CAT also recently settled its long-running dispute with Abbott over the royalties on Humira, the major rheumatoid arthritis drug developed by the Cambridge company.
The settlement gives CAT a 2.6% royalty on sales of the drug, less than the 5.1% it had sought, but the deal allows the company management to move on to other business challenges.
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