NantCell, LLC, a subsidiary of NantWorks, LLC, has entered into a licensing agreement with Amgen for AMG 479 (ganitumab), gaining exclusive rights to develop and commercialize the drug worldwide, excluding Japan. AMG 479 is a fully human monoclonal antibody in Phase III development that targets Type 1 insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGF-1R), a promising target for cancer. Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
“We are pleased to enter into this agreement with Amgen,” said Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder and chief executive officer of NantCell. “We acquired an immuno-oncology compound in late-stage development, with the potential to address a number of cancers affecting significant patient populations. It is our belief that the future of cancer care will involve combination therapy with low dose, metronomic use of multiple chemotherapeutic agents, but combined also with immuno-oncology molecules, or with engineered killer cells targeted at the proteomic profile of the specific tumor, regardless of the anatomical type. The development of antibody molecules such as IGF-1R will require next generation sequencing at the proteomic level with a deep level of molecular interrogation to establish the appropriate combination with other drugs.”
 
“We are pleased to collaborate with NantCell and NantWorks in their mission to establish a new level of quantitative predictability of patient selection,” said Sean E. Harper, M.D., executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. “Their integrated suite of technologies may help to improve patient selection and further clinical development of AMG 479.”