Genmab A/S has acquired rights to 16 potential targets to treat non-steroid dependent cancers of epithelial cell origin, such as gastrointestinal cancers, including colon cancer, from the insolvency administrator of Europroteome, AG, a privately owned German company currently in insolvency proceedings.

Genmab purchased all of Europroteome's rights, including patent applications and know how, and does not owe anything further to the insolvency estate. There are no milestone or royalty obligations, according to a company release.

Genmab has started generating human antibodies to a unique target highly expressed on colon carcinomas.

"These rights give Genmab access to numerous cancer targets, including ones for colon cancer, providing the opportunity to further build our pre-clinical pipeline," said Lisa N. Drakeman, CEO of Genmab.