(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)

Analysis of Medarex Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDX)

Medarex Inc. (NASDAQ: MEDX), a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes human antibody-based therapeutic products to treat cancer, inflammation, autoimmune disorders, as well as other life-threatening and debilitating diseases.

Recently, a Mayo Clinic report said that two prostate cancer patients became cancer-free after receiving one dose of company's experimental drug ipilimumab, in combination with hormone treatment and radiation therapy. The two patients had tumors that were considered inoperable at diagnosis, the report said. Prostate cancer is diagnosed in 192,000 U.S. men each year and 27,000 die from this deadly disease. The company is developing Ipilimumab, an antibody, jointly with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) and is in trials for melanoma, lung cancer and prostate cancer. Going forward, Medarex's growth prospects are expected to be driven by ipilimumab in a big way.

Additionally, the company has also got the approval from FDA for MDX-1338, an investigational new drug for the treatment of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia. Preclinical laboratory experiments have shown that MDX-1338 can block the growth of selected human tumor cells.

Similarly, in May, Medarex Inc. announced that its drug candidate MDX-1100 met its goal in a clinical trial, as it significantly reduced the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis compared with a placebo. Medarex said patients who were dosed with MDX-1100 were three times more likely to meet the trial's pain reduction goal, which was a decrease of 20 percent in pain and symptoms from the disease. Medarex is also testing MDX-1100 as a treatment for ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammation of the bowel.

A large portion of the company's revenue is derived from licensing its fully human antibody technology to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Early in May, Medarex, Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) and Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories signed an exclusive worldwide license agreement for the Clostridium difficile toxin antibodies CDA-1 and CDB-1, granting Merck worldwide development and commercialization rights. Medarex and Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories, which co-developed the antibodies, will receive an upfront payment of $60m and are eligible to receive additional cash payments of up to $165m upon achievement of certain developmental and approval milestones.