Genmab to receive $10 million milestone payment from Janssen

Danish biotech firm Genmab (OMX: GEN) says it has reached the fifth milestone in its daratumumab collaboration with Janssen Biotech, a unit of US health care giant Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

The $10 million milestone payment, part of a $1.1 billion collaboration (The Pharma letter August 31, 2012), was triggered by progress in the ongoing Phase III study (Alcyone MMY3007) which compares daratumumab in combination with bortezomib, melphalan and prednisone (VMP) to bortezomib, melphalan and prednisone alone as front line treatment for patients who are not considered candidates for stem cell transplantation (SCT).

“We are pleased with the progress being made in the daratumumab Alcyone study for multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is the most common type of blood cancer in the USA and second most common in Europe and we hope that the combination of daratumumab with other myeloma therapies will provide another treatment option for patients in the future,” said Jan van de Winkel, chief executive of Genmab.