LONDON - Oxford GlycoSciences plc (OGS) has agreed to a collaboration with Medarex Inc. to develop therapeutics based on linking antigen targets discovered by OGS with Medarex's human antibodies. The partners said they expect the first joint product from an OGS antigen to enter Medarex's development program in the near future, and that the collaboration will generate several product candidates in the following year.

Medarex, based in Princeton, N.J., is to make a $5 million equity investment in OGS.

OGS, of Abingdon, UK, will contribute 30 protein targets for cancer and other serious diseases, discovered using its proprietary proteomics platform. The partners will share preclinical and clinical responsibilities, and intend to jointly commercialize products.

Michael Kranda, CEO of OGS, said, "Our proteomics technology can rapidly and precisely identify proteins over-expressed on human cancer cells. Then the power of Medarex's fully human monoclonal antibody technology and manufacturing capabilities come into play and result in synergies from discovery to development."

OGS is focussing on novel antigens found on the cell membranes of cancer cells. The initial targets contributed to the alliance will be novel breast cancer antigens, discovered in collaboration with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in London.

"The ability of OGS to focus directly on disease-associated proteins will provide high-quality targets for our antibody approach," said Donald Drakeman, CEO of Medarex and an OGS board member. "The combination of these technologies is expected to result in the development of a number of fully human antibody-based therapeutic products."

Medarex has devised a system, T-12 Development, under which it says it can get from target to trial in 12 months.