Medimmune’s Granta Park Staff Play Key Role in Major Deal

MedImmune's Granta Park based staff have played a major role in building a deal with Amgen to co-develop and co-commercialise five monoclonal antibodies from Amgen’s clinical inflammation portfolio.

Staff from legal, business development and R & D departments helped support the deal, including negotiating and interfacing with Amgen in the US, and many more are set to become involved in the collaboration which will give MedImmune, the biologics arm of AstraZeneca, one of the strongest respiratory, inflammation and autoimmunity portfolios in the industry.
Says Site Leader and VP Research Jane Osbourn: “Around 60 staff at Granta Park are focused on this therapy area, with a couple of products in phase 2 clinical trial in Cambridge - Tralokinumab for severe asthma and Mavrilimunab for rheumatoid arthritis. The most advanced of the five monoclonal antibodies involved in the collaboration deal is Brodalumab, an antibody for psoriasis, which we hope to push into phase 3 this year. The deal will also give us the opportunity to look at additional diseases, including psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and Crohn’s disease.”

The deal has also brought much pride to MedImmune’s Granta Park based staff: “It’s great to get a late stage clinical development programme, which is good for morale here and offers many opportunities and choices. Working with a name like Amgen also brings a lot of pride. It reflects well on staff as a whole to work with such an attractive partner, “adds Jane.

Collaboration is a key element to MedImmune's ongoing success, with external development deals fuelling approximately 60% of the company’s pipeline. “We have a collaborative culture at MedImmune, which is actively supported by Granta Park, who have done a great job setting the right tone for us to be able to discuss deals like this. The industry is moving to a more creative phase around partnerships. This shared approach will allow us to drive things forward and share a sense of reward as well as sharing the risk.”

MedImmune has a state-of-the-art Research and Development facility at Granta Park employing around 400 people and is recognized for its rich history as an innovator and a key player in Cambridge’s bioscience community.