CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 13 /PRNewswire/ -- ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN) today announced that the Company's stock has been added to the Russell 3000® Index, which measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. stocks based on total market capitalization. Published annually by the Frank Russell Company, the 21 U.S. Russell indices are designed to provide objective benchmarks for investors.
"Membership in the Russell 3000® Index increases ImmunoGen's visibility to an extensive investment community," said Mitchel Sayare, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of ImmunoGen, Inc. "ImmunoGen's inclusion in this major U.S. market index attests to our strong stock performance this year driven by the value of our Tumor-Activated Prodrug (TAP) technology platform. Our unique approach has attracted several partnerships, including two recent collaborations with Genentech aimed to develop more potent and less toxic cancer treatments than existing chemotherapies. Indeed, the value of our TAP technology to develop new cancer treatments is becoming more recognized by our industry peers. We intend to leverage this recognition by entering into additional collaborations with other companies developing antibody products."
ImmunoGen, Inc. develops innovative biopharmaceuticals, primarily for cancer treatment. The Company has created potent tumor-activated prodrugs, consisting of drugs coupled to monoclonal antibodies, for delivery to and destruction of cancer cells. The most advanced TAP, huC242-DM1/SB-408075, designed to treat colorectal and pancreatic cancer, is in a Phase I/II human clinical study. The Company currently has licensing and research collaborations with SmithKline Beecham, Genentech and British Biotech.
This press release includes forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from such expectations include, but are not limited to: the ability to secure future funding; the success of the Company's research strategy; the applicability of the discoveries made therein; the difficulties inherent in the development of pharmaceuticals, including uncertainties as to the timing and results of preclinical studies; delayed achievements of milestones; reliance on collaborators; uncertainty as to whether the Company's potential products will succeed in entering human clinical trials and uncertainty as to the results of such trials; uncertainty as to whether adequate reimbursement for these products will exist from the government, private healthcare insurers and third-party payors; and the uncertainties as to the extent of future government regulation of the pharmaceutical business.
