MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., Dec. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMMU), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, today announced that stockholders of the Company, at its 24th annual meeting, approved resolutions to elect all eight nominees to serve as directors of the Company until the next annual meeting, and ratified the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as the Company's independent registered public accounting firm for the current fiscal year.
"This past year we have made significant progress in the clinical development of our humanized antibodies. We have confirmed in a Phase II trial that veltuzumab is effective in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at a low dose of 80 mg/m2, which allowed us to develop a new subcutaneous formulation," commented Cynthia L. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Before the end of this calendar year, we plan to evaluate the subcutaneous formulation in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or chronic Lymphocytic leukemia while at the same time expand the existing intravenous formulation to patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura. In addition, encouraged by the positive initial results from our Phase I single-dose dose-escalation study with hPAM4 in pancreas cancer, in the first quarter of calendar year 2008, we plan to initiate a new dose-escalation Phase I study with repeated dosing of fractionated yttrium-labeled hPAM4 in combination with gemcitabine," Ms. Sullivan further remarked. "Epratuzumab continues to draw interest from study groups of the National Cancer Institute. The Cancer and Leukemia Group B is sponsoring a trial involving epratuzumab in combination with rituximab in patients with previously untreated follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Finally, UCB has confirmed their commitment to the clinical development program of epratuzumab and we look forward to their update shortly," Ms. Sullivan concluded.
About Immunomedics
Immunomedics is a New Jersey-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of monoclonal, antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune and other serious diseases. We have developed a number of advanced proprietary technologies that allow us to create humanized antibodies that can be used either alone in unlabeled or "naked" form, or conjugated with radioactive isotopes, chemotherapeutics or toxins, in each case to create highly targeted agents. Using these technologies, we have built a pipeline of therapeutic product candidates that utilize several different mechanisms of action. We have exclusively licensed our lead product candidate, epratuzumab, to UCB (www.ucb-group.com) for the treatment of all autoimmune disease indications worldwide. Epratuzumab's most advanced program is for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). At present, there is no cure for lupus and no new lupus drug has been approved in the U.S. in the last 40 years. We have retained the rights for epratuzumab in oncology indications for which UCB has been granted a buy-in option. The Company is conducting clinical trials with veltuzumab in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, epratuzumab as a potential therapeutic for patients with lymphoma and leukemia, 90Y-epratuzumab for the therapy of patients with lymphoma, 90Y-hPAM4 for pancreas cancer therapy and milatuzumab as a therapy for patients with multiple myeloma. We believe that our portfolio of intellectual property, which includes approximately 108 patents issued in the United States, and more than 250 other issued patents worldwide, protects our product candidates and technologies. We also have a majority ownership in IBC Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is developing a novel Dock-and-Lock (DNL) methodology, and a new method of delivering imaging and therapeutic agents selectively to disease, especially different solid cancers (colorectal, lung, pancreas, etc.), by proprietary, antibody-based, pretargeting methods. For additional information on us, please visit our web site at http://www.immunomedics.com. The information on our website does not, however, form a part of this press release.
This release, in addition to historical information, may contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements, including statements regarding clinical trials, out-licensing arrangements (including the timing and amount of contingent payments), forecasts of future operating results, and capital raising activities, involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied herein. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with new product development (including clinical trials outcome and regulatory requirements/actions), our dependence on our licensing partner for the further development of epratuzumab for autoimmune indications, competitive risks to marketed products and availability of required financing and other sources of funds on acceptable terms, if at all, as well as the risks discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company is not under any obligation, and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation, to update or alter any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.