Genmab and Seattle Genetics announces that Seattle Genetics has exercised its option to co-develop tisotumab vedotin.

The companies originally entered into a commercial license and collaboration agreement in October 2011 under which Seattle Genetics had the right to exercise a co-development option for tisotumab vedotin at the end of Phase I clinical development. Tisotumab vedotin, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting tissue factor, is currently being evaluated in Phase I/II clinical studies in solid tumors.  Going forward, Genmab and Seattle Genetics will co-develop and share all future costs and profits for tisotumab vedotin on a 50:50 basis.

“The combination of Genmab’s differentiated HuMax-TF antibody and Seattle Genetics’ clinically-validated antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology has resulted in encouraging preliminary data for tisotumab vedotin in selected solid tumors. We very much look forward to working with Seattle Genetics to further develop this exciting first-in-class ADC product,” said Jan van de Winkel, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Genmab.

“Our ADC partnership with Genmab has generated promising Phase I/II data for tisotumab vedotin in patients with recurrent cervical cancer. As Seattle Genetics opts into co-development of this clinical program, we add another potential product to our strong pipeline,” said Clay Siegall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Seattle Genetics. “Together with Genmab, we look forward to advancing tisotumab vedotin for the treatment of solid tumors.”

Preliminary data from the ongoing Phase I/II study of tisotumab vedotin in solid tumors (GEN701) were announced in June 2017, demonstrating antitumor activity and manageable safety in recurrent cervical cancer patients. This announcement can be found here. Updated preliminary data from the Phase I/II study will be presented in an oral presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 Congress in Madrid (Spain), September 8-12, 2017.