GSK, Genmab Amend Ofatumumab Agreement

As per the terms of the amendment, GSK is expected to take up the responsibility for developing Ofatumumab in autoimmune indications while continuing to jointly develop Ofatumumab with Genmab in oncology indications.

Further, Genmab is expected to get an upfront payment of GBP90m from GSK.

In total, Genmab will fund GBP145m for the development of Ofatumumab in oncology indications, including GBP17m as a yearly spending cap for each of the next six years starting with 2010.

The entities said that there will be 50% reduction in future milestone under the oncology development programme, but there will not be any changes in royalty tiers to Genmab in the oncology programme, but

GSK is expected to conduct a number of Phase II clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Ofatumumab in autoimmune indications.

Ian Tomlinson, senior vice president of biopharmaceutical R&D at GSK, said: “GSK’s growing biopharmaceutical capabilities coupled with our deep therapy area expertise will greatly facilitate the development of Ofatumumab in these indications.

“GSK will be solely responsible for funding the development in these indications. As a result, Genmab will forego development milestones for autoimmune indications and the first two sales milestones while retaining a double digit royalty on sales.”

Jan van de Winkel, CEO of Genmab, said: “The amendment to the Ofatumumab agreement clearly highlights Genmab and GSK’s commitment to further develop this important product.

“We have a really excellent partner in GSK. Their flexibility has allowed us to not only ensure that we extract the best possible value from Ofatumumab, but also strengthen the financial security of Genmab.”