Immunomedics Develops Novel Antibody-Based Therapeutics for Mantle Cell and Other Lymphomas

Immunomedics, Inc.

yesterday announced that two new bispecific antibodies that target both the CD20 and CD74 receptors on B cells exhibited potent anti-tumor activities against mantle cell and other lymphomas in preclinical studies. MCL is an aggressive form of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma for which there is no standard of care. About 3,500 new cases are detected every year in the United States with the disease being more prominent among adults 60 years and older. Chemotherapy along with the chimeric anti-CD20 antibody, rituximab, increases overall survival but the disease relapses in virtually all patients. Recently, the potential advantage of targeting both CD20 and CD74 was reported in a preclinical study in which milatuzumab, the Company's humanized anti-CD74 antibody, combined with rituximab and a crosslinking antibody resulted in anti-tumor activity in MCL cell lines and patient samples in vitro.