IDEC Pharmaceuticals

Zevalin (Ibritumomab Tiuxetan murine monoclonal antibody, produced in a CHO cell line, targeted against the CD20 antigen) IDEC Pharmaceuticals Non-Hodgkin s lymphoma... 

Data courtesy of Dr. Mary Ruth and IDEC Pharmaceutical Corp., San Diego. 

However, therapeutic antibodies to selectively expressed, genomics-or proteomics-provided targets, such as antigens in tumors, enter clinical trials for many cancer forms very rapidly. One makes humanized or human antibodies, by different methods, which either carry something or act on their own. These are safe. They are often efficacious. But they are difficult to administer you have to inject them. They work in small indications, and they are perfect for small companies. The first Biotech company to make money in San Diego, IDEC Pharmaceuticals, did just this quite successfully, well enough later to buy Biogen and move to Boston in 2003. 

Ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin-IDEC Pharmaceuticals) Idarubicin (Idamycin- Pharmacia)... 

A vast majority of the therapeutic antibodies approved by the FDA are naked antibody molecules that exert most of their therapeutic effects by merely binding to selected cellular targets. However, recent approval of Zevalin (IDEC Pharmaceuticals) for cancer radioimmunotherapy marked a new direction in using antibodies... 

Ibritumomab tiuxetan Zevalin IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp. 

Rituxan (Rituximab chimeric mAb directed against CD20 antigen found on the surface of B lymphocytes) Genentech/IDEC Pharmaceuticals non-Hodgkin s lymphoma 1997 (US)... 

Rituxan (rituximab) -sales >100 Mill /year IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Genen-tech, Inc. November 1997... 

Notes Clinical trials with rituximab began in 1993. The BLA was filed with the US FDA in February 1997 and the MAA was filed simultaneously with the EMEA in Europe. Approval was granted in the United States in November 1997 and in Europe in June 1998. Many others at IDEC Pharmaceuticals made important contributions and are not listed because of space constraints. 

A. J. Grillo-Lopez, IDEC-C2B8 Rituxan (rituximab), Oral/slide Presentation - Biological Response Modifiers Advisory Committee, Washington, DC, July 1997, (Data on file-IDEC Pharmaceuticals and US FDA). 

In contrast, rituximab (Rituxan IDEC Pharmaceuticals) is a highly targeted antibody that binds principally with CD-20-positive B lymphocytes implicated in one form of non-Hodg-kin s lymphoma. Muromonab-CD3 (Orthoclone OKT3 Ortho Pharmaceuticals), used to reverse acute rejection of transplanted kidneys, is another example of the specific type of therapeutic antibody. Specific antigens are far more common as therapeutic targets. 

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