Danish biotechnology company Genmab has entered into an additional antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) collaboration with US-based Seattle Genetics.

As part of the new agreement, Genmab will pay an upfront fee of $11m for exclusive rights to use Seattle Genetics’ auristatin-based ADC technology with firm’s HuMax-AXL, an antibody targeting AXL that is expressed on multiple types of solid cancers.

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In September 2010, both companies partnered for HuMax-TF-ADC, targeting the Tissue Factor antigen. It is in Phase I trial for solid tumours.

"This collaboration with Genmab further extends the reach of our industry-leading ADC technology for use with novel oncology targets."

In addition, Seattle Genetics has been entitled to receive around $200m in potential milestone payments and mid-to-high single digit royalties on worldwide net sales of any resulting products.

The company can exercise an option to increase the royalties to double digits in exchange for a reduction of the milestone payments owed by Genmab, before its initiation of a Phase III study for any resulting products.

Seattle Genetics corporate development vice-president Natasha Hernday said: "This collaboration with Genmab further extends the reach of our industry-leading ADC technology for use with novel oncology targets, while providing us with a compelling financial value proposition as the programme advances.

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Genmab CEO Jan van de Winkel said: "This new collaboration with Seattle Genetics adds another ADC programme to our innovative pre-clinical pipeline of antibodies developed using the latest technological advances in cancer therapeutics. Pre-clinical work identified AXL as an excellent target for an ADC therapeutic approach."

HuMax-AXL-ADC is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), which combines high affinity human monoclonal antibody against AXL with Seattle Genetics’ clinically validated cytotoxic drug.

AXL is a signalling molecule that involves in multiple processes of tumour development and progression, while ADCs are monoclonal antibodies, which are developed to deliver cytotoxic agents to tumour cells.