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FRAMINGHAM, Mass and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Genzyme Transgenics Corporation ("GTC") (Nasdaq: GZTC) and ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN) announced today that they have signed an agreement to produce ImmunoGen's humanized monoclonal antibody, huN901. Under this agreement, GTC will develop goats that express huN901 in their milk. HuN901 is the antibody component of ImmunoGen's tumor-activated prodrug (TAP), huN901-DM1/BB-10901, being developed for treatment of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC).

"The huN901 antibody is part of an innovative treatment being developed for small-cell lung cancer," stated Michael Young, Vice President, Commercial Development of GTC. "This partnership extends GTC's commitment to commercializing therapeutic proteins for unmet medical needs. We are pleased that ImmunoGen has become one of our growing number of partners. HuN901 is the fourth new monoclonal antibody collaboration announced this year. GTC is now developing ten antibodies with eight partners."

"This agreement is an important step towards the further development of our huN901-DM1/BB-10901 TAP," stated John Lambert, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development of ImmunoGen, Inc. "We and our development partner, British Biotech, remain on track to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the United States Food and Drug Administration by the end of the year."

GTC will produce huN901 in specially bred goats that will express this humanized antibody in their milk. The antibody will then be purified from the milk. ImmunoGen will then couple this antibody with a highly potent cytotoxic maytansinoid drug, DM1, to form the huN901-DM1/BB-10901 TAP. In mouse tumor xenograft models, huN901-DM1/BB-10901 eradicated human SCLC tumors. Depending on the results of the development program, as well as clinical studies of this TAP, the companies may enter into further agreements for the production of huN901.

Every year in the United States, approximately 33,000 people -- twenty percent of all lung cancer patients -- are diagnosed with SCLC, a virulent form of cancer with few therapeutic options. Median survival for such patients is less than a year.

Genzyme Transgenics Corporation is a leader in developing medicines from the milk of specially bred animals, primarily goats. Many of the medicines under development are monoclonal antibodies and immunoglobulin fusion proteins or other therapeutic proteins for conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS and cancer. To date, GTC has formed more than a dozen collaboration agreements which provide for production of specific proteins. Additional information is available on the GTC web site, http://www.transgenics.com.

ImmunoGen, Inc. develops innovative biopharmaceuticals, primarily for cancer treatment. The Company has created potent tumor-activated prodrugs (TAP), 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, pancreatic and certain non-small-cell lung cancers, has been licensed to SmithKline Beecham and is in two Phase I/II human clinical studies. ImmunoGen is developing huN901-DM1/BB-10901 in collaboration with British Biotech. British Biotech is responsible for conducting the clinical trials necessary to achieve regulatory approval in the U.S., European Union and Japan, and has been granted the exclusive right to commercialize the huN901-DM1/BB10901 in the EU and Japan. ImmunoGen retains the rights to commercialize huN901-DM1/BB-10901 in the US and the rest of the world. ImmunoGen has collaborative arrangements with Genentech, Abgenix and MorphoSys in addition to SmithKline Beecham, British Biotech and Genzyme Transgenics. For additional information on ImmunoGen, visit http://www.immunogen.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation statements about the potential benefits of huN901, the potential benefits of huN901-DM1/BB-10901, anticipated agreements in transgenic production, and the impact of small-cell lung cancer on health. Such forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such statements. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties discussed in Genzyme Transgenics Corporation's and ImmunoGen, Inc.'s prospectuses and Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the uncertainties associated with additional studies, and the risks and uncertainties associated with dependence upon the actions of collaboration partners, government and regulatory agencies.