Genmab has stepped into a research collaboration with the Danish Head and Neck Cancer Group.
Under the alliance, the group will supply its fully human antibody HuMax-EGFr (zalutumumab) for a Phase III front-line study of around 600 head and neck cancer patients being carried out by the DAHANCA-group.
The DAHANCA-group will fund the trial and will negotiate the study protocol with the relevant authorities. In addition, it is responsible for running the study and subsequent publication of results.
Rights to data
In return for supplying the antibody, Genmab gains all rights to regulatory use of both safety and efficacy data from the study. Further details are under negotiations by the DAHANCA-group, the company said in a statement.
Genmab has been quite active in forging relationships with drugmakers based on its antibodies. Most notably, it signed a very lucrative deal – that could be worth up to £1 billion – with UK drug giant GlaxoSmithKline in December last year, giving it access to HuMax-CD20 (ofatumumab), which is in late-stage development for CD20 positive B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia and follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and in Phase II for rheumatoid arthritis.
