A Medical Device Daily
ImmunoGen (Waltham, Massachusetts) reported that Amgen (Thousand Oaks, California) has licensed the exclusive right to use the company's maytansinoid Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology to develop anticancer therapeutics to an undisclosed target found on solid tumors.
Daniel Junius, president/CEO, said, "Amgen has an established track record of success in oncology and an expanding presence in antibody-based therapeutics. Amgen's interest in antibody-drug conjugates is good for the field, and we're pleased they've chosen to move forward with ImmunoGen's technology."
This license was taken under an agreement established in 2000 between ImmunoGen and Abgenix (Thousand Oaks, California), which later was acquired by Amgen. Under the terms of the license, ImmunoGen receives a $1 million license payment upfront.
The company also is entitled to receive milestone payments potentially totaling $34 million plus royalties on the sales of any resulting products. Amgen is responsible for the development, manufacturing, and marketing of any products resulting from this license.
The agreement established in September 2000 grants Amgen certain rights to test ImmunoGen's maytansinoid TAP technology with antibodies to specific targets and to license on agreed-upon terms the right to use the technology with antibodies to these targets to develop products.
In other agreements/contracts news:
• Welch Allyn (Skaneateles Fall, New York) was recently selected as the sole-source vendor for standardized blood pressure cuffs by non-profit healthcare purchasing coalitions Yankee Alliance (Andover, Massachusetts) and Catholic Healthcare Partners (Cincinnati). The agreement will make blood pressure cuffs with Welch Allyn FlexiPort technology available at special pre-negotiated pricing to nearly 100 hospitals across 22 states. Welch Allyn FlexiPort blood pressure cuffs have a single common connection that reduces waste as well as the risk of spreading infectious disease.
• Premier Purchasing Partners (Charlotte, North Carolina) reported new agreements for bulk oxygen have been awarded to Airgas Puritan Medical (Overland Park, Kansas); LifeGas, a division of Linde Gas North America (Atlanta); Air Liquide Healthcare America (Houston), a small business enterprise; and Praxair Healthcare Services (Danbury, Connecticut). Effective Nov. 1, 2009, the agreements are available to acute care and continuum of care members of the Premier healthcare alliance.