Oct 11 2010
Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ: MITI) today announced that its licensee for MT111, MedImmune, plans to initiate a Phase 1 trial in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers based on an investigational new drug (IND) application recently accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). MT111, also known as MEDI-565, is a BiTE® antibody designed to direct a patient's T cells, the body's most potent killer cells, against cancer cells that express carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). CEA is a protein found on the surface of a number of gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal, esophageal and gastric.
“We are pleased to advance the development of this innovative oncology drug candidate”
MedImmune is advancing the development of MT111/MEDI-565 under a collaboration agreement signed with Micromet in June 2003. Under the terms of the agreement, development and commercialization of MT111/MEDI-565 will be led by MedImmune in the U.S. and outside of Europe, and by Micromet in Europe. MedImmune's submission of an IND for MT111/MEDI-565 triggered a milestone payment to Micromet. MedImmune anticipates initiating the Phase I trial in the first half of 2011.
"We are pleased to advance the development of this innovative oncology drug candidate," said Bahija Jallal, Ph.D., executive vice president of research and development at MedImmune. "We are looking forward to learning more about the potential of this compound to improve the lives of patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancers."
Preclinical studies have demonstrated potent activity of MT111/MEDI-565 against human cancer cell lines and inhibition of tumor growth in animal models.
"We are very pleased with the progress achieved under our collaboration with MedImmune and are excited to see the third BiTE antibody enter the clinic," said Christian Itin, Ph.D., Micromet's President and Chief Executive Officer.
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