News

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb 7, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ ImmunoGen, Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN) today announced financial results for the three and six months ended December 31, 2001. For the three-month period, the Company reported a net loss of $1.7 million, or $0.04 per basic and diluted share, compared to a net loss of $2.5 million, or $0.07 per basic and diluted share, after restatement for the retroactive adoption of Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101, "Revenue Recognition in Financial Statements" (SAB 101), in the same quarter last year. For the six-month period ended December 31, 2001, the Company reported a net loss of $3.3 million or $0.08 per basic and diluted share compared to a net loss before the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle of $4.5 million, or $0.13 per basic and diluted share, in the same period last year. The net loss for the six months ended December 31, 2000 reflects the Company's adoption of SAB 101, retroactive to July 1, 2000, which resulted in a cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle charge of $5.7 million, or $0.16 per share. Net loss including the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle for the six months ended December 31, 2000 was $10.2 million or $0.29 per share.

"These financial results are in line with our expectations," said Mitchel Sayare, Ph.D., Chairman and CEO. "The announcement of our agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim in November was consistent with our promise to deliver an additional partner by the end of 2001. We now have TAP technology collaborations with four companies: Genentech, Abgenix, Millennium and Boehringer Ingelheim. Two additional companies -- GlaxoSmithKline and British Biotech -- have licensed TAP products originated by ImmunoGen. We have a strong balance sheet with over $151 million in cash and marketable securities, we expect our partners to provide us with milestone payments and royalties, and we are making substantial progress with our own pipeline products. We have also recently expanded our TAP platform to include highly potent taxane compounds."

ImmunoGen Update

In November 2001, ImmunoGen, Inc. and Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH announced a collaboration to develop a new product, BIWI1 (bivatuzumab mertansine), combining ImmunoGen's maytansinoid Tumor-Activated Prodrug (TAP) technology with a Boehringer Ingelheim antibody. Under the terms of the agreement, Boehringer Ingelheim will receive exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize maytansinoid TAPs using antibodies targeting CD44. Boehringer Ingelheim will be responsible for the manufacturing, product development and marketing of products resulting from the license; ImmunoGen will manufacture preclinical and initial clinical materials for manufacturing payments. ImmunoGen will receive an up-front payment and milestone payments, in addition to royalties on net sales.

ImmunoGen has an active program to develop its own pipeline. The lead DM1 TAP products developed by ImmunoGen, huC242-DM1/SB-408075 and huN901-DM1/BB- 10901, are both licensed to partners and in clinical trials. Preclinical data on the Company's product candidate for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia, huMy9-6-DM1, was presented in November. Progress is also being made in the Company's IGF-1 receptor program. ImmunoGen is building its pipeline through its own internal research and through collaborations established with other companies.

In January 2002, ImmunoGen also had two achievements related to its effector molecule technology. On January 4, the Company announced it had been granted U.S. Patent 6,333,410 B1, which covers the Company's method of production of its lead effector molecule, DM1. On January 23, ImmunoGen announced it had been granted U.S. Patent 6,340,701, which covers the Company's proprietary taxane compounds and the use of these compounds with cell-binding agents such as monoclonal antibodies. The taxane class, which includes Taxol^® and Taxotere^®, is a well-accepted treatment for several different types of cancer, including breast, ovarian and lung cancer. ImmunoGen's taxane compounds are many-fold more potent than these widely used agents.

About ImmunoGen, Inc.

ImmunoGen, Inc. develops innovative biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer. The Company's TAP technology couples highly potent cytotoxic agents with tumor-targeting antibodies to create effective new treatments for cancer with minimal damage to normal tissue. The Company has partnerships with GlaxoSmithKline, Genentech, British Biotech, Abgenix, Millennium, Boehringer Ingelheim, MorphoSys, Avalon Pharmaceuticals and Raven Biotechnologies. Two TAP products are currently in clinical trials, with additional products expected to start trials in 2002.

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 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.

Taxol^® is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Taxotere^® is a registered trademark of Aventis.