IMED licenses technology from Medarex for fully human monoclonal antibodies

2008-04-04

IMED AB today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Medarex, Inc. to enable IMED AB to develop and commercialize fully human monoclonal antibodies that have been generated by IMED AB using Medarex's UltiMAb® technology.

This agreement expands rights previously granted by Medarex to IMED in a prior agreement under which IMED evaluated the use of the Medarex UltiMAb technology for the generation of antibodies to a specific target identified by IMED AB. IMED AB plans to develop antibodies to this target for the treatment of immune disorders and diseases related to deregulation of cell death, e.g. transplantation and HIV. "We are pleased to enter this agreement with Medarex, a major player within the field of antibody development," said Lotta Ljungqvist, CEO of IMED AB. "Medarex's UltiMAb technology has generated numerous fully human antibodies that are currently in human clinical trials. We believe that using fully human antibodies provides an advantage to us and could lead to the successful development of antibody therapeutics."

Under the terms of the agreement, IMED AB will be responsible for the development and commercialization of the fully human antibody therapeutics. Medarex is entitled to receive certain license fees and milestone payments as well as royalties on commercial sales of products that may be developed under the agreement.

IMED AB is focused on advancing its lead project in GVHD to block apoptosis using a human monoclonal antibody generated by the use of Medarex's UltiMAb technology. IMED AB is investing in its lead project, currently in a preclinical phase, and readying it for advancement to the clinical phase. GVHD is a life threatening complication after bone marrow or stem cell transplantation in which the new transplant, i.e., the graft, attacks the patient, the host, resulting in a systemic disease which affects primarily the skin, liver and gastrointestinal tract.

For further information, contact Lotta Ljungqvist, CEO IMED, phone + 46 8 524 689 21

About IMED AB.

IMED AB, a privately held biotechnology company, based at the Karolinska Institute Science Park, Stockholm, Sweden, is focused on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibodies for treatment of immune disorders and diseases associated with deregulation of cell death. is engaged in modulating cell death which has been described to be involved in numerous diseases eg. transplantation and HIV.

IMED AB is funded by Karolinska Development and LinkMed AB, a public VC traded on the Stockholm stock exchange.

For further information, please visit www.imed.se