ImClone, R-PR In EGF-R Link-up

ImClone Systems has signed a licensing agreement with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer for the latter's intellectual property rights to pending patent applications covering the use of epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted monoclonal antibodies in combination with chemotherapeutic drugs such as doxorubicin and cisplatin.

EGF receptors are known to be overexpressed on the surface of many cancer cells, and antibodies directed against them may inhibit their growth by limiting the cells' exposure to necessary growth factors. About 25% of breast cancer cases, 70% of ovarian cancers and 65% of bladder cancers have an EGF-R overexpression phenotype, reports ImClone. Some cancers, including head and neck tumors, have an almost 100% expression rate.

ImClone said that it expects to file an Investigational New Drug application for its lead antibody C225 by the fourth quarter of 1994.