BOTHELL, Wash. & SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seattle Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:SGEN) and Agensys, Inc., an affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc. (Tokyo:4503), today announced that Seattle Genetics has exercised an option to co-develop a second antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) under the companies’ existing ADC collaboration agreement. The ADC, known as ASG-22ME (formerly AGS-22M6E), targets the Nectin-4 antigen, which is expressed on multiple solid tumors. During the first quarter of 2011, Agensys submitted an investigational new drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a phase I trial of ASG-22ME. Seattle Genetics and Agensys are also co-developing another ADC known as ASG-5ME, which is currently in phase I clinical trials for pancreatic and prostate cancer.
