Thursday, October 29, 2009

Celldex cancer drug candidate returns positive news

By Mass High Tech staff

Video Gallery

MHT's Julie Donnelly: Life science startups finding investments

MHT's Marc Songini: Technology to keep seniors healthy

MHT's Marc Songini: Mass. bio firms prep for lifting of stem cell ban

Related News

Biogen shareholders: CEO pay 'inconsistent' with poor stock performance [November 20, 2009]

Second license deal with Amgen to bring ImmunoGen another $35M [November 20, 2009]

German biotech Caprotec opens Burlington subsidiary [November 19, 2009]

Genzyme halts kidney treatment development [November 19, 2009]

ACT seeks FDA OK for stem cell study to treat blindness [November 19, 2009]

Needham biotech Celldex Therapeutics Inc. received positive results from Phase 1 studies of its drug candidate, CDX-1307, intended to treat a number of cancers.

CDX-1307 is designed for vaccine delivery using monoclonal antibodies against the cancer target, hCG beta. The Phase 1 study, which was intended to test the safety and immunogenicity of CDX-1307, returned positive results for the drug candidate’s immunological and biological responses.

Celldex (Nasdaq: CLDX) tested 80 patients diagnosed and pretreated for breast, colon, bladder and pancreatic cancer. The results returned positive safety information and no limitations on dosage.

CDX-1307 is the first drug candidate from Celldex’s Precision Targeted Immunotherapy Platform.

Celldex was founded as Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc., and merged with New Jersey-based Celldex in early 2008 in a $128 million stock deal. Avant changed its name to Celldex in September of 2008, but retained its headquarters in Needham and its manufacturing plant in Fall River.