Medarex rises 2.9% on $1M MedImmune fee

Shares in Medarex jumped 2.9% in afternoon trading on February 2, after the US biotechnology firm received a $1.0 million milestone from  MedImmune, its development partner for scleroderma drug candidate  MEDI-546.

The milestone was triggered by the approval of an Investigational New  Drug application for the agent, which is a fully-human antibody that  targets a component of the type 1 interferon pathway. MEDI-546 will be  studied in patients with scleroderma, a chronic autoimmune disease  characterized by the hardening and thickening of the skin and other  organs of the body.

"This IND application marks the second antibody targeting the interferon  inflammatory pathway that MedImmune has supported for advancement into  the clinic using our UltiMAb technology," said Medarex chief executive  Howard Pien. In November 2004, MedImmune, which is now a wholly-owned  unit of AstraZeneca, entered into collaboration with Medarex to focus  on two specific antibodies, now known as MEDI-545 and MEDI-546.  MedImmune is responsible for all ongoing clinical development  activities. Before the start of pivotal studies, Medarex may elect to  co-develop the products.