For more than 20 years, monoclonal antibodies have provided therapeutic benefit to patients with cancer, autoimmune diseases and other serious medical conditions. Early antibody-based therapies revolutionized the treatment of cancer by targeting malignant cells and limiting damage to normal tissue. This resulted in therapies that were better tolerated and could be used in combination with chemotherapy to improve patient outcomes without significant increases in toxicities.

While engineered antibodies have provided clinical benefit in several disease indications, many antibodies lack sufficient intrinsic antitumor activity to be used as therapeutics. Seattle Genetics’ proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technology is the next step in improving antibody-based therapies. Our ADC technology empowers antibodies by linking them to potent cytotoxic agents, thereby combining the specificity of engineered antibodies with the potent cell-killing effects of chemotherapy.

ADCETRIS™ (brentuximab vedotin), our lead ADC program, was granted accelerated approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2011, validating the therapeutic utility of this technology. We are also advancing SGN-75, an ADC targeting CD70, as well as ASG-5ME and ASG-22ME, ADCs that we are co-developing with Agensys, all in phase I clinical trials.

With robust capabilities in both antibody engineering and ADC innovation, we are striving to take antibody-based therapies to a new and more effective level.