PDL BioPharma (known as Protein Design Labs prior to 2006) is a publicly traded American
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
that since 2008 manages patents and other intellectual property that had been generated by the company.
[Peter Kolchinsky for In Vivo. July/August 201]
How To Create A Lasting Peace Between Biotech Management, Shareholders And Employees
/ref> In 2008 in response to shareholder pressure, PDL spun out its active development programs to a company called Facet Biotech that it capitalized with $400 million.
December 17, 2008[ by cell biologist Laurence J. Korn and mathematician Cary Queen, was a pioneer in humanizing ]monoclonal antibodies
A monoclonal antibody (mAb, more rarely called moAb) is an antibody produced from a Lineage (evolution), cell lineage made by cloning a unique white blood cell. All subsequent antibodies derived this way trace back to a unique parent cell.
Mon ...
. Its humanization technology was used in several monoclonal antibody drugs under licensing and collaboration agreements; such products included trastuzumab
Trastuzumab, sold under the brand name Herceptin among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat breast cancer and stomach cancer. It is specifically used for cancer that is HER2 receptor positive. It may be used by itself or together ...
(Herceptin), bevacizumab
Bevacizumab, sold under the brand name Avastin among others, is a monoclonal antibody medication used to treat a number of types of cancers and a specific eye disease. For cancer, it is given by slow injection into a vein (intravenous) and use ...
(Avastin), and palivizumab
Palivizumab, sold under the brand name Synagis, is a monoclonal antibody produced by recombinant DNA technology used to prevent severe disease caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections. It is recommended for infants at high-risk for ...
(Synagis).[Thiel KA. A very firm handshake: biotech's growing negotiating power. Nat Biotechnol. 2005 Oct;23(10):1221-6. ] It held its initial public offering in 1992 and by 1994 it had 13 compounds in its pipeline, and had partnered its lead product, the humanized monoclonal antibody daclizumab
Daclizumab (trade name Zinbryta) is a therapeutic humanized monoclonal antibody which was used for the treatment of adults with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Daclizumab works by binding to CD25, the alpha subunit of the IL-2 receptor ...
, with Roche
F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational corporation, multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, ...
under a license that called for a 15% royalty. Daclizumab became the first humanized monoclonal antibody approved for human use in 1997. PDL made another public offering in 2000, at the peak of the biotech IPO window that ran from 1998 to 2001.[ In 2003 it settled litigation with ]Genentech
Genentech, Inc. is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It operates as an independent subsidiary of holding company Roche. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent cent ...
over royalty payments owed to PDL under their license agreement; annual royalties were anticipated at that time to be around $90M per year. These are the kinds of intellectual property and license agreements that PDL manages on behalf of its shareholders since 2008;[ in 2007 those royalty payments were around $220 million.][
One of the development programs that PDL had transferred to Facet was the use of daclizumab in indications it had never licensed to Roche, including ]multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
. Facet partnered that development program with Biogen Idec
Biogen Inc. is an American multinational biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of the treatment of neurological diseases to patients worldwide. Biogen ope ...
which attempted a hostile buy out of Facet for $350M in 2009; Facet rejected that offer and was purchased by Abbvie
AbbVie Inc. is an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois. It is ranked sixth on the list of largest biomedical companies by revenue. In 2023, the company's seat in Forbes Global 2000 was 74, and rank 89 on the ...
for $450 million in cash the next year. The FDA approved daclizumab for multiple sclerosis in 2016 under the trade name Zinbryta. FDA News Release: FDA approves Zinbryta to treat multiple sclerosis
May 27, 2016
PDL Biopharma has filed for a liquidation under Delaware Law that was effective January 7 2021. The liquidation plan was approved by shareholders in October 2020.
References
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External links
Official website
Biotechnology companies of the United States
Life sciences industry