BETHESDA, Md., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micromet, Inc. (Nasdaq: MITI), today announced the publication of pre-clinical data in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), demonstrating the potency of new product candidates based on the Company's proprietary BiTE® antibody technology. BiTE antibodies are a new class of agents designed to harness a patient's T cells to kill cancer cells.
Results published in PNAS characterize new BiTE antibodies generated to target epidermal growth factor receptor 1 (EGFR), a protein expressed on the surface of most solid tumors. An EGFR-directed BiTE antibody based on cetuximab demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity against cetuximab-resistant tumors in animal models. Unlike the monoclonal antibody cetuximab, the cetuximab-based BiTE antibody did not show evidence of skin toxicity usually attributed to anti-EGFR therapies.
"Our latest results demonstrate the potential of BiTE antibodies to overcome the limitations of conventional antibodies and illustrate the breadth and broad applicability of our next-generation antibody technology," said Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D., Micromet's Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer.
A copy of the article is accessible from the PNAS website: www.pnas.org.
About BiTE Antibodies
BiTE® antibodies are designed to direct the body's cytotoxic, or cell-destroying, T cells against tumor cells, and represent a new therapeutic approach to cancer therapy. Typically, antibodies cannot engage T cells because T cells lack the appropriate receptors for binding antibodies. BiTE antibodies have been shown to bind T cells to tumor cells, ultimately inducing a self-destruction process in the tumor cells referred to as apoptosis, or programmed cell death. In the presence of BiTE antibodies, T cells have been demonstrated to serially eliminate tumor cells, which explains the activity of BiTE antibodies at very low concentrations. Through the killing process, T cells start to proliferate, which leads to an increased number of T cells at the site of attack.
About Micromet, Inc.
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. Its product development pipeline includes novel antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE® technology, as well as conventional monoclonal antibodies. Two of Micromet's BiTE antibodies and three of its conventional antibodies are currently in clinical trials. Micromet has collaborations with a number of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including sanofi-aventis, Bayer Schering Pharma, Merck Serono, Boehringer Ingelheim, MedImmune and Nycomed. Additional information can be found at www.micromet-inc.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Any statements contained herein which do not describe historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the potential of the Company's BiTE antibody technology and its use in the treatment of cancer. You are urged to consider statements that include the words "ongoing," "may," "will," "believes," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," or the negative of those words or other similar words to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements include the risk that our preclinical data is not confirmed in clinical trials with our product candidates. This factor and others are more fully discussed in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Micromet, Inc.
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Results published in PNAS characterize new BiTE antibodies generated to target epidermal growth factor receptor 1 (EGFR), a protein expressed on the surface of most solid tumors. An EGFR-directed BiTE antibody based on cetuximab demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity against cetuximab-resistant tumors in animal models. Unlike the monoclonal antibody cetuximab, the cetuximab-based BiTE antibody did not show evidence of skin toxicity usually attributed to anti-EGFR therapies.
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"Our latest results demonstrate the potential of BiTE antibodies to overcome the limitations of conventional antibodies and illustrate the breadth and broad applicability of our next-generation antibody technology," said Patrick Baeuerle, Ph.D., Micromet's Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer.
A copy of the article is accessible from the PNAS website: www.pnas.org.
About BiTE Antibodies
BiTE® antibodies are designed to direct the body's cytotoxic, or cell-destroying, T cells against tumor cells, and represent a new therapeutic approach to cancer therapy. Typically, antibodies cannot engage T cells because T cells lack the appropriate receptors for binding antibodies. BiTE antibodies have been shown to bind T cells to tumor cells, ultimately inducing a self-destruction process in the tumor cells referred to as apoptosis, or programmed cell death. In the presence of BiTE antibodies, T cells have been demonstrated to serially eliminate tumor cells, which explains the activity of BiTE antibodies at very low concentrations. Through the killing process, T cells start to proliferate, which leads to an increased number of T cells at the site of attack.
About Micromet, Inc.
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. Its product development pipeline includes novel antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE® technology, as well as conventional monoclonal antibodies. Two of Micromet's BiTE antibodies and three of its conventional antibodies are currently in clinical trials. Micromet has collaborations with a number of leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including sanofi-aventis, Bayer Schering Pharma, Merck Serono, Boehringer Ingelheim, MedImmune and Nycomed. Additional information can be found at www.micromet-inc.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws. Any statements contained herein which do not describe historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding the potential of the Company's BiTE antibody technology and its use in the treatment of cancer. You are urged to consider statements that include the words "ongoing," "may," "will," "believes," "potential," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "intends," or the negative of those words or other similar words to be uncertain and forward-looking. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements include the risk that our preclinical data is not confirmed in clinical trials with our product candidates. This factor and others are more fully discussed in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010. We caution you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Micromet, Inc.
