GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Genmab A/S announced an amendment to the ofatumumab co-development and commercialisation agreement. Under the terms of the amendment, GSK will take responsibility for developing ofatumumab in autoimmune indications whilst continuing to jointly develop ofatumumab with Genmab in oncology indications.
Genmab will receive an upfront payment of GBP £90 million (DKK 815 million) from GSK. Genmab’s future funding commitment for the development of ofatumumab in oncology indications will be capped at a total of GBP £145 million (DKK 1,314 million), including a yearly spending cap of GBP £17 million (DKK 154 million) for each of the next six years starting with 2010. Future milestones due to Genmab under the oncology development programme will be reduced by 50 per cent. There will be no change in royalty tiers to Genmab in the oncology programme.
GSK is currently planning a number of Phase II clinical studies to take ofatumumab forward in autoimmune indications. “Autoimmune diseases represent an area of high unmet medical need. GSK’s growing biopharmaceutical capabilities coupled with our deep therapy area expertise will greatly facilitate the development of ofatumumab in these indications,” said Ian Tomlinson, senior vice president, Biopharmaceutical R&D, GSK. GSK will be solely responsible for funding the development in these indications. As a result, Genmab will forego development milestones for autoimmune indications and the first two sales milestones while retaining a double digit royalty on sales.
“The amendment to the ofatumumab agreement clearly highlights Genmab and GSK’s commitment to further develop this important product,” said Prof. Jan G.J. van de Winkel, Ph.D., chief executive officer Genmab. “We have a really excellent partner in GSK. Their flexibility has allowed us to not only ensure that we extract the best possible value from ofatumumab, but also strengthen the financial security of Genmab.”
The amendment to the ofatumumab agreement is expected to have a material impact on Genmab’s 2010 financial guidance which will be updated with the company’s second quarter report on 17 August 2010.
The financial terms of the amendment to the ofatumumab co-development and commercialisation agreement are denominated in British Pounds (GBP). Solely for the convenience of the reader, this press release contains a conversion of such GBP amounts into Danish Kroner (DKK) using the Danish Central Bank closing rate on 1 July 2010 which was GBP £1.00 = DKK 9.0600.
Genmab A/S - is a leading international biotechnology company focused on developing fully human antibody therapeutics for the potential treatment of cancer. Genmab’s world class discovery and development teams are using cutting-edge technology to create and develop products to address unmet medical needs.