MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., Nov. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMMU) today announced that the Company was honored by the Research & Development Council of New Jersey with their coveted Edison Patent Award, in recognition of the Company’s significant achievements in the biotechnology category for its novel immuno-oncology program.
“We are delighted to receive this prestigious award for the fourth time,” commented Cynthia L. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Immunomedics. “We are excited to be recognized by our peers for creating our own immuno-oncology agents for solid cancer therapy using our proprietary Dock-and-Lock® protein conjugation platform technology,” Ms. Sullivan further remarked. “One of these agents will be the subject of an upcoming presentation at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on redirected T-cell therapy of triple-negative breast cancer, which can be enhanced by combining it with our own proprietary immune checkpoint inhibitor,” she concluded.
The Edison award is for U.S. Patent 9,315,567, “T-cell redirecting bispecific antibodies for treatment of disease,” an invention that is a method of treating cancer by redirecting a patient’s own immune system to kill cancer cells using a novel bispecific antibody format that can simultaneously bind to two receptors, one on the cancer cells and the other on T cells, a type of white blood cells. This technology avoids the costly and time consuming process of the removal of the patient’s blood cells, manipulation of the cells ex-vivo, followed by the administration of the manipulated cells back into the patient, which have some inherent toxicities.
The inventors of the patent, Drs. Chien-Hsing Chang, David M. Goldenberg, and Edmund A. Rossi, and Diane Rossi, were honored at the Council’s 37th Edison Patent Award Ceremony & Reception last night at the Liberty Science Center, where a short original film paid tribute to each of the winners.
About the Research & Development Council of New Jersey
For more than half a century, the Research & Development Council of New Jersey has been dedicated to cultivating an environment supportive of the advancement of research and development in New Jersey. Established in 1962, the Council was created to serve as a unified voice for the three R&D sectors — industry, academia and government — to work with the State to create an environment R&D could thrive in. The R&D Council is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose membership includes representatives from academia, government and industry, including several Fortune 500 companies. More information can be found at the R&D Council’s website: www.rdnj.org.
About Immunomedics
Immunomedics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing monoclonal antibody-based products for the targeted treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders and other serious diseases. Immunomedics’ advanced proprietary technologies allow the Company to create humanized antibodies that can be used either alone in unlabeled or “naked” form, or conjugated with radioactive isotopes, chemotherapeutics, cytokines or toxins. Using these technologies, Immunomedics has built a pipeline of eight clinical-stage product candidates. Immunomedics’ portfolio of investigational products includes antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) that are designed to deliver a specific payload of a chemotherapeutic directly to the tumor while reducing overall toxic effects that are usually found with conventional administration of these chemotherapeutic agents. Immunomedics’ most advanced ADCs are sacituzumab govitecan (IMMU-132) and labetuzumab govitecan (IMMU-130), which are in Phase 2 trials for a number of solid tumors and metastatic colorectal cancer, respectively. IMMU-132 has received Breakthrough Therapy Designation from the FDA for the treatment of patients with triple-negative breast cancer who have failed at least two prior therapies for metastatic disease. Immunomedics has a research collaboration with Bayer to study epratuzumab as a thorium-227-labeled antibody. Immunomedics has other ongoing collaborations in oncology with independent cancer study groups. The IntreALL Inter-European study group is conducting a large, randomized Phase 3 trial combining epratuzumab with chemotherapy in children with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia at clinical sites in Australia, Europe, and Israel. Immunomedics also has a number of other product candidates that target solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, as well as other diseases, in various stages of clinical and preclinical development. These include combination therapies involving its antibody-drug conjugates, bispecific antibodies targeting cancers and infectious diseases as T-cell redirecting immunotherapies, as well as bispecific antibodies for next-generation cancer and autoimmune disease therapies, created using its patented DOCK-AND-LOCK® protein conjugation technology. The Company believes that its portfolio of intellectual property, which includes approximately 295 active patents in the United States and more than 400 foreign patents, protects its product candidates and technologies. For additional information on the Company, please visit its website at www.immunomedics.com. The information on its 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 (including the funding therefor, anticipated patient enrollment, trial outcomes, timing or associated costs), regulatory applications and related timelines, out-licensing arrangements (including the timing and amount of contingent payments), forecasts of future operating results, potential collaborations, 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, the Company’s dependence on business collaborations or availability of required financing from capital markets, or other sources on acceptable terms, if at all, in order to further develop our products and finance our operations, new product development (including clinical trials outcome and regulatory requirements/actions), the risk that we or any of our collaborators may be unable to secure regulatory approval of and market our drug candidates, risks associated with the outcome of pending litigation and competitive risks to marketed products, and the Company’s ability to repay its outstanding indebtedness, if and when required, 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.