MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., Oct. 14, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immunomedics, Inc. (Nasdaq:IMMU), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer and other serious diseases, announced that U.S. patent 7,435,803 was issued today covering the composition of matter and the use of humanized, chimeric and human anti-CD20 antibodies and antibody fusion proteins or fragments thereof comprising at least the veltuzumab antibody that targets the CD20 antigen present on B-lymphocytes, leukemias, and lymphomas. The allowed claims cover the use of veltuzumab and bispecific antibody protein constructs for the treatment and diagnosis of B-cell disorders, such as B-cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. The patent also protects the subcutaneous formulation of veltuzumab, which the Company recently licensed to Nycomed GmbH for all non-cancer indications.
