ImmunoGen bags second $35M deal with Amgen

ImmunoGen today announced its second licensing deal with Amgen in three months. The biotech giant gains rights to ImmunoGen's maytansinoid Targeted Antibody Payload (TAP) technology, which uses antibodies to deliver a cancer cell-killing agent, to develop anticancer therapeutics to an undisclosed target. In September Amgen licensed the TAP technology for another undisclosed cancer target. Similar to the September deal, today's pact gives ImmunoGen $1 million up front and milestone payments potentially totaling $34 million plus royalties on the sales of any resulting products.

"Amgen undertook extensive diligence prior to taking the first license that enabled them to move ahead quickly with this second license," said ImmunoGen CEO Daniel Junius in a statement. "The commitment Amgen is showing to the development of significant new anticancer compounds using our TAP technology is impressive--both in the pace that they took this second license and in their thoroughness around product timelines."

- here's Immunogen's release
- see the brief from Mass High Tech