ImmunoGen to test two cancer drugs without partners
Thursday January 8, 9:20 am ET
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NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - ImmunoGen Inc. (NasdaqNM:IMGN - News) said on Thursday it will develop two cancer drugs on its own rather than with partners, moves that will increase its expenses for the fiscal year ending in June 2005.
ImmunoGen said it would test one cancer drug on its own even though it had previously aimed to find a partner, and would move the drug into Phase II testing alone.
A research agreement signed with Franco-German drugmaker Aventis (Paris:AVEP.PA - News) allowed ImmunoGen to take the drug in-house because Aventis will help with the funding of other drugs.
In another partnership, Vernalis Plc (London:VER.L - News) will continue two clinical trials already under way with a second experimental treatment, but ImmunoGen will take over future development of that drug, too.
ImmunoGen uses antibodies, or proteins that fight diseases, that are targeted to tumor cells. In addition to the two drugs discussed on Thursday, two other ImmunoGen molecules have advanced into human testing.
Shares of ImmunoGen were relatively flat at $6.01 in electronic trading before the market opened, compared with a Nasdaq closing price of $6 on Wednesday.
The stock closed yesterday @ $7.00. Perhaps the investment community is in support of IMGN decision.
