West Coast Editor

Micromet Inc. picked up a $10 million milestone payment from partner Serono SA for finishing two Phase II trials with the cancer antibody adecatumumab - which missed its primary endpoints in both studies - and Micromet's stock (NASDAQ:MITI) rose more than 48 percent on the news, closing Monday at $3, up 98 cents.

As of Sept. 30, Micromet had $21.3 million in cash and cash equivalents.

Adecatumumab targets tumor cells overexpressing the epithelial cell adhesion molecule known as EpCAM. In early October, the companies said the Phase II trial in metastatic breast cancer did not reach its primary endpoint, defined as a 25 percent clinical benefit rate at week 24, but showed a significant prolongation of time-to-progression in patients treated with the higher dose vs. the lower dose. Progression-free survival was 336 days, 128 days and 49 days for 10 percent, 25 percent and 50 percent (median) of patients in the high/high group, compared to 112 days, 59 days and 42 days in the low/low group.

The second Phase II study, while also missing its primary endpoint, defined as a mean change in prostate-specific antigen at week 24 over baseline, again yielded a beneficial trend when compared to placebo, the firms reported.

Although both firms have pledged ongoing commitment to the drug, officials at Micromet, which has offices in Carlsbad, Calif., and Munich, Germany, declined immediate comment on the next steps with adecatumumab, under development through a partnership potentially worth about $148 million. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 8, 2004.)