ImmunoGen earns $2 million milestone from Bayer

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, a USA-based unit of Germany’s Bayer (BAY: DE), has submitted an Investigational New Drug application to the Food and Drug Administration for the Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology-based compound BAY 94-9343, which triggers a $2 million milestone payment to partner ImmunoGen (Nasdaq: IMGN).

Cancer drug developer ImmunoGen licensed exclusive worldwide rights for its TAP technology to Bayer Healthcare for use in developing oncology compounds to an undisclosed solid-tumor that targets mesothelin more than two years ago (The Pharma Letter October 27, 2008). Under the terms of the deal, the US firm is eligible to receive milestones potentially totalling $170.5 million, along with royalties on commercial sales.

“BAY 94-9343 is a promising therapeutic for mesothelin-expressing cancers,” commented Daniel Junius, ImmunoGen president and chief executive, adding: “In addition to BAY 94-9343, we expect five other TAP compounds to advance into clinical testing in next twelve months - two developed and wholly owned by ImmunoGen and three through our collaborations with other companies. Overall, we anticipate that there will be twelve TAP compounds in the clinic by this time next year.”