By Matthew Willett

Staff Writer

Seattle Genetics Inc., makers of monoclonal antibody-based anticancer drugs, filed for an initial public offering estimated at $75 million.

The Bothell, Wash.-based company did not indicate the number of shares it is offering or expected price range.

JP Morgan Securities Inc., of New York; CIBC World Markets Corp., of New York; and Banc of America Securities LLC, of San Francisco, are underwriting the offering.

The company plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to fund preclinical research, clinical trials and commercialization activities for product candidates and for other general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures and working capital.

Founded in 1997, the company had $30.2 million in cash and short-term investments as of September, according to its filing.

It focuses on immunotoxins, antibody-based drug conjugates and naked monoclonal antibodies, programs it took from its parent company in 1997. The company came to being as a spin-off of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. with licenses to anticancer MAb technology. (See BioWorld Today, May 7, 1998.)

SGI also uses proprietary technology, antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy, or ADEPT, to fuse monoclonal antibodies to an enzyme, creating a therapeutic, the company said, with potent antitumor activity that spares normal tissue.

SGI is currently testing two product candidates, SGN-15 and SGN-10, in patients with breast, colon, prostate or other cancers. Three Phase II tests are under way for SGN-15 in combination with Taxotere, and two Phase I studies are under way with SGN-10, one with the compound as a single agent and one in combination with Taxotere.

Major stakeholders in SGI include OVP Venture Partners, which owns 13.1 percent of the company; Cascade Investments LLC, a 12.5 percent owner; and Vulcan Ventures Inc., also 12.5 percent stakeholders. Directors and executive officers as a whole own 58.3 percent of the company.

The company had 21.7 million shares outstanding as of Sept. 30.