Genmab is focused on building a deep pipeline of antibody products.  In addition to developing  HuMax and UniBody  products and forming partnerships with other biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to gain access to new disease targets, Genmab also works to acquire rights to targets identified by other companies.

 

Cancer Targets

In May 2005, Genmab acquired the rights for 16 potential targets to treat non-steroid dependent cancers of epithelial cell origin, such as gastrointestinal cancers, including colon cancer, from the insolvency administrator of Europroteome AG, a privately owned German company.  Genmab purchased all of Europroteome’s rights, including patent applications and know how, and does not owe anything further to the insolvency estate.  There are no milestone or royalty obligations.  Genmab has started generating human antibodies to a unique target highly expressed on colon carcinomas.

 

In April 2004, Genmab licensed the GT43 cancer target from Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, a privately held German company.  The GT43 target is expressed on a wide range of tumors, including melanoma, breast cancer, lung cancer, and hepatocellular carcinoma.  The target is expressed on the cell membrane of cancer cells but not on normal tissues of any essential organ and has demonstrated a role in cell signaling.  Laboratory studies have shown that the inhibition of the target resulted in markedly decreased cell migration.  It was also demonstrated that expression of GT43 is strongly correlated with metastasis in patients with breast cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.  Under the terms of the license agreement, Ganymed will be entitled to license fees, milestones and royalties on the sale of successfully commercialized products.

 

Angiogenesis Targets

In February 2006, Genmab acquired exclusive worldwide rights to eight angiogensis targets identified and characterized by Bionomics.  The process of angiogenesis contributes to cancer growth and metastasis and is also involved in chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and serious eye diseases, in particular macular degeneration.  Under the terms of the license agreement, Bionomics receives an up front fee and additional fees upon the first target achieving specified preclinical and clinical milestones.  Bionomics will also receive milestone payments and royalties on product sales for each product that reaches the market.