Medarex was an American

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

company based in

Princeton Princeton University is a private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the Unit ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, with manufacturing facilities in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

and Annandale, New Jersey, and research facilities in

Milpitas Milpitas (Spanish for or little cornfields) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, part of Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, it is bordered by San Jose to the south, ...

and

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 2009, Medarex was purchased by

Bristol Myers Squibb The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Trade name, doing business as Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies ...

. Medarex developed

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 ...

CTLA-4 Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4, (CTLA-4) also known as CD152 ( cluster of differentiation 152), is a protein receptor that functions as an immune checkpoint and downregulates immune responses. CTLA-4 is constitutively expressed in ...

and

PD-1 Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), (CD279 cluster of differentiation 279). PD-1 is a protein encoded in humans by the ''PDCD1'' gene. PD-1 is a cell surface receptor on T cells and B cells that has a role in regulating the immune system's re ...

, which are proteins on the surface of

T cells T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) are an important part of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor (TCR) on their ce ...

. 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.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 Several monoclonal antibodies developed by Medarex have been approved for disease therapy. In 2009, the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

approved Simponi, a human monoclonal antibody to

tumor necrosis factor alpha Tumor necrosis factor (TNF), formerly known as TNF-α, is a chemical messenger produced by the immune system that induces inflammation. TNF is produced primarily by activated macrophages, and induces inflammation by binding to its receptors o ...

co-developed with

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

Janssen Biotech Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (formerly Janssen Pharmaceuticals) is a Belgian pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Ph ...

, for treatment of arthritis. In 2011, the U.S. FDA approved

ipilimumab Ipilimumab, sold under the brand name Yervoy, is a monoclonal antibody medication that works to activate the immune system by targeting CTLA-4, a protein receptor that downregulates the immune system. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) can recogniz ...

, a monoclonal antibody to CTLA-4, for treatment of metastatic melanoma. In 2014, the U.S. FDA approved

nivolumab Nivolumab, sold under the brand name Opdivo, is an anti-cancer medication in the class of immune checkpoint inhibitors. It selectively binds and blocks the programmed death-1 (PD-1) receptor on T cells, thereby facilitating their activation ...

, a monoclonal antibody to PD-1, for treatment of advanced melanoma. Its use was expanded to the treatment of

squamous Epithelium or epithelial tissue is a thin, continuous, protective layer of cells with little extracellular matrix. An example is the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Epithelial ( mesothelial) tissues line the outer surfaces of man ...

non-small-cell lung carcinoma Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or non-small-cell lung carcinoma, is any type of epithelial lung cancer other than small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). NSCLC accounts for about 85% of all lung cancers. As a class, NSCLCs are relatively insensitiv ...

in 2015. Medarex developed some of the first transgenic mice with humanized immune systems, in order to generate fully human antibodies. Many of the on-market monoclonal antibodies have been derived from this platform.

History

Medarex was founded in 1987 by a group of immunologists at

Dartmouth Medical School The Geisel School of Medicine is the medical school of Dartmouth College located in Hanover, New Hampshire. The fourth oldest medical school in the United States, it was founded in 1797 by New England physician Nathan Smith. It is one of the sev ...

—Dr. Michael W. Fanger, Dr. Paul M. Guyre, and Dr. Edward D. Ball — who partnered with Donald L. Drakeman and Charles Schaller of Essex Chemical Company, through its venture capital arm Essex Vencap. Drakeman, a Dartmouth graduate, brought the parties together and served as the company's chief executive officer. The company went public in 1991, with 2,300,000 shares of common stock at $6.10 per share and 2,250,000 Redeemable Warrants offered at its IPO. The company's second president and CEO was Howard H. Pien, succeeding Drakeman in 2007.

Genmab Genmab A/S is a Danish biotechnology company, founded in February 1999 by Florian Schönharting, at the time managing director of BankInvest Biomedical venture fund. The company is based in Copenhagen, Denmark – internationally, it operates t ...

was founded as a European spin-off of American Biotech company Medarex in February 1999. The company was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2009 for $2.4 billion, which included $300 million in debt, making the payment to Medarex $2.1 billion.John Carroll for FierceBiotech Jul 23, 200
Bristol-Myers to buy Medarex for $2.1B
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References

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External links

medarex.com is now BMS.com
Corporate website Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Drugs developed by Bristol Myers Squibb Biotechnology companies of the United States Companies based in Princeton, New Jersey Pharmaceutical companies based in New Jersey 1991 initial public offerings 2009 mergers and acquisitions Pharmaceutical companies disestablished in 2009