San Diego, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/03/2012 -- Thomas Reynolds, Chief Medical Officer at Seattle Genetics will give a featured presentation on “Empowering Antibodies Through Drug Conjugation – the Brentuximab Vedotin Story” at GTC’s Antibody Design and Discovery Conference (June 7-8, 2012 in San Diego, CA)

Brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35, ADCETRIS) is a CD30-targeted ADC containing a proprietary cleavable linker and a synthetic auristatin with potent anti-tubulin properties. Phase 1 studies established 1.8 mg/kg q3 weeks as a suitable regimen for further development in CD30+ hematologic malignancies, and 2 Phase 2 pivotal studies were undertaken in relapsed/refractory HL and ALCL. The HL study demonstrated an overall response rate of 73%, with 32% complete remissions; in ALCL, the ORR was 86% with a 57% complete remission rate. These data, combined with an acceptable adverse event profile, ultimately led to accelerated approval by the FDA in August 2011.

Development of brentuximab vedotin in earlier lines of therapy and in other CD30+ malignancies is ongoing. Studies of brentuximab vedotin were recently initiated to evaluate the safety, clinical activity, and dose-response relationship with CD30 in non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and a large screening study to evaluate CD30 expression in myeloma, leukemias, and solid tumors.

Thomas Reynolds is the Chief Medical Officer at Seattle Genetics. He leads clinical and regulatory activities across the company's product portfolio. Dr. Reynolds has more than 15 years of biotechnology drug development experience, from preclinical development through the FDA approval process.

GTC’s Antibody Design and Discovery Conference, leading industry and academic innovators from Pfizer, Merck, The Scripps Research Institute, MedImmune, NIH, Dana- Farber Cancer Institute, and more to discuss exciting clinical trends and applications of antibodies. We’ll explore novel technologies being utilized to identify and select antibodies with better accuracy and efficiency, and learn about new optimization and developability techniques to enhance effective function. Moreover, attendees will hear directly from scientists and researchers about emerging clinical data, and its implications for the advancement of the field, including therapeutic antibodies in cancer, and infectious and autoimmune diseases.

This conference is also part of the Drug Discovery and Regulatory Summit, which consists of this track and three other tracks:
- Biospecimens and Biorepositories
- 6th Drug Design and Medicinal Chemistry
- Life Science Legal and Business Strategy

For more information, please visit http://www.gtcbio.com