BETHESDA, Md., June 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Micromet, Inc. (Nasdaq: MITI), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases, today announced the initiation of the first clinical trial for the anti-granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) human antibody MT203 by its collaboration partner Nycomed.
The double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled study will investigate the safety and pharmacokinetics of MT203.
GM-CSF has been shown to play a significant role in various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Under a 2007 agreement between Micromet and Nycomed, the two companies are jointly developing MT203. Micromet has been primarily responsible for the non-clinical development of MT203, whereas Nycomed will be responsible for the clinical development and commercialization of MT203 going forward.
'The initiation of the first clinical trial represents a major milestone for MT203,' comments Christian Itin, President and CEO of Micromet. 'Our partner Nycomed is well positioned to pursue the clinical development of MT203 in the field of severe inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.'
'We are very pleased with the progress in our collaboration with Micromet,' comments Anders Ulman, Executive Vice President Research and Development of Nycomed. 'We are looking forward to the results of this first trial as a key milestone in our clinical development program.'
About Micromet, Inc.
Micromet, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel, proprietary antibodies for the treatment of cancer, inflammation and autoimmune diseases. Its product development pipeline includes novel antibodies generated with its proprietary BiTE(R) antibody platform, as well as conventional monoclonal antibodies. BiTE antibodies represent a new class of antibodies that activate the T cells of a patient's immune system to eliminate cancer cells. Five of Micromet's antibodies are currently in clinical trials. Its BiTE antibody blinatumomab (MT103) is in a phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and in a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). A second BiTE antibody, MT110, is in a phase 1 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with solid tumors. MT110 binds to the epithelial cell adhesion molecule, or EpCAM, which is overexpressed in many solid tumors.
