Fee triggered by AVE1642 moving into a Phase II trial for hormone-sensitive breast cancer.
ImmunoGen received a $4 million milestone payment with sanofi-aventis’ initiation of a Phase II trial with AVE1642, an anticancer compound.
AVE1642 was developed by ImmunoGen using its resurfacing technology. The compound was licensed to sanofi-aventis, which initiated clinical testing in October 2006. The Phase II trial will evaluate AVE1642 given in combination with fulvestrant for the treatment of hormone-sensitive breast cancer.
ImmunoGen and sanofi-aventis are collaborating to discover, develop, and commercialize anticancer products using ImmunoGen’s antibody expertise and its Tumor-Activated Prodrug (TAP) technology. For each compound in this collaboration, ImmunoGen is entitled to receive milestones between $21.5 to $30 million plus royalties on sales. AVE1642 is a naked antibody that binds to IGF-1R to block a signaling pathway used by cancer cells to proliferate and survive exposure to chemotherapy.
