Medarex

Medarex
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: MEDX
IndustryBiopharmaceutical
Founded1987; 37 years ago (1987)
FounderDr. Michael W. Fanger
Dr. Paul M. Guyre
Dr. Edward D. Ball
Defunct2009; 15 years ago (2009)
FateAcquired by Bristol Myers Squibb
HeadquartersPrinceton, New Jersey, U.S.
ParentBristol Myers Squibb

Medarex was an American biopharmaceutical company based in Princeton, New Jersey, with manufacturing facilities in Bloomsbury and Annandale, New Jersey, and research facilities in Milpitas and Sunnyvale, California. In 2009, Medarex was purchased by Bristol Myers Squibb.

Medarex developed monoclonal antibodies to CTLA-4 and PD-1, which are proteins on the surface of T cells. T cells attack cancer cells, but CTLA-4 and PD-1 act as "brakes" on the T cell's anti-cancer activities. The monoclonal antibodies bind to these proteins and block them, releasing the T cell to attack cancer cells.[1][2]

Several monoclonal antibodies developed by Medarex have been approved for disease therapy. In 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Simponi, a human monoclonal antibody to tumor necrosis factor alpha co-developed with Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Biotech, for treatment of arthritis.[3] In 2011, the U.S. FDA approved ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody to CTLA-4, for treatment of metastatic melanoma.[1] In 2014, the U.S. FDA approved nivolumab, a monoclonal antibody to PD-1, for treatment of advanced melanoma.[4] Its use was expanded to the treatment of squamous non-small-cell lung carcinoma in 2015.[5]

Medarex developed some of the first transgenic mice with humanized immune systems, in order to generate fully human antibodies.[6] Many of the on-market monoclonal antibodies have been derived from this platform.[7]

  1. ^ a b Breakthrough of the Year: Cancer Immunotherapy, Science 20 December 2013, Vol. 342 no. 6165 pp. 1432-1433, DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6165.1432, Jennifer Couzin-Frankel
  2. ^ Clinical trial number NCT00094653 for "MDX-010 Antibody, MDX-1379 Melanoma Vaccine, or MDX-010/MDX-1379 Combination Treatment for Patients With Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma" at ClinicalTrials.gov
  3. ^ Marcial, Gene (4 May 2009). "Marcial: Medarex, a Bright Spot in Biotech". businessweek.com. Archived from the original on September 25, 2014. Retrieved 24 Sep 2014.
  4. ^ "Bristol-Myers Squibb Receives Accelerated Approval of Opdivo (nivolumab) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration - BMS Newsroom". news.bms.com.
  5. ^ "FDA Expands Approved Use of Nivolumab to Squamous NSCLC - ESMO". www.esmo.org.
  6. ^ Pierson, Ransdell (2009-07-23). "Bristol-Myers to buy Medarex for $2.4 billion". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-04-14.
  7. ^ Booth, Bruce. "Human Antibody Discovery: Of Mice And Phage". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-04-14.