Medarex expects to receive an undisclosed milestone payment from its licensee, Bristol-Myers for the advancement into clinical trials of BMS-66513, a fully human antibody that targets CD137, for the treatment of cancer.
The antibody product was developed using Medarex’s UltiMAb technology and is the first UltiMAb derived antibody in clinical development by Bristol-Myers under the companies December 2003 agreement. Medarex also expects to receive additional milestone payments as well as royalties on any commercial sales resulting from the development of this product.
“We are pleased that partners like Bristol-Myers Squibb continue to leverage our technology to develop potential treatments for unmet medical needs,” said Donald Drakeman, president and CEO of Medarex. “We believe that the fully human antibodies derived from our technology will continue to have an important role in expanding the already growing therapeutic class of antibodies for the treatment of many diseases.”