Abgenix Acquires Rights To Novel Cancer Target

11-27-2001: Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABGX) today announced that it has exclusively in-licensed from Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University a potential new target for the treatment of cancer. This target, known as EGFrvIII, is a member of the family of epidermal growth factor receptors. Other members of this important family include Her2, the target of the marketed antibody treatment, Herceptin; and epidermal growth factor receptor (“EGFr”), the target of Abgenix’s fully human monoclonal antibody, ABX-EGF, currently in co-development with Immunex Corp. in Phase II clinical trials for renal and lung cancer. The receptors EGFr and EGFrvIII differ in their expression patterns: EGFr is expressed in normal tissue while it is over-expressed in many of the most prevalent human tumor types. EGFrvIII is not expressed in normal tissue, but, to date, has been identified to be expressed in brain, breast, lung and ovarian cancer tissue. This suggests that EGFrvIII may be a more specific target for antibody-based cancer therapies.

EGFrvIII was discovered by lead investigators Bert Vogelstein, M.D., Professor of Oncology at Johns Hopkins University and Darell Bigner, M.D., Ph.D., the Jones Professor of Pathology and Deputy Director of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, and is the subject of several issued patents and pending patent applications. The license agreement with Duke and Hopkins provides Abgenix with worldwide exclusive rights to develop and commercialize antibody-based therapeutics to EGFrvIII.

“Because EGFrvIII expression is restricted to tumor cells, it holds promise for the development of very specific antibody treatments for cancer,” said R. Scott Greer, chairman and chief executive officer of Abgenix. “We continue to believe that the epidermal growth factor receptor family offers some of the most exciting targets for antibody-based cancer therapies. Antibodies to this recently discovered receptor, EGFrvIII, complement our extensive and ongoing work with ABX-EGF which binds to EGFr. EGFRvIII represents an ideal fit with our clinical oncology development programs and is an opportunity to explore other unmet medical needs in the vast area of cancer.”

The class III variant of the epidermal growth factor receptor, EGFrvIII, is characterized by a deletion in the cDNA sequence of the EGFr, resulting in the formation of a new, tumor-specific receptor (cell surface marker). This spontaneously occurring receptor is found specifically in a high percentage in brain, breast, lung and ovarian tumors and does not appear to be found on normal human tissue.

It is estimated that over 150,000 cancer patients in the United States undergo treatment every year for tumors that specifically express EGFrvIII. For example, an estimated 50% of brain cancer, 50-70% of breast and ovarian cancer, and 15% of NSCLC express EGFrvIII. Abgenix and its collaborators will continue to evaluate the expression of EGFrvIII in other tumor types.