Despite the change of corporate name, the company said it will maintain its focus on the pursuit of developing novel therapies for solid tumors and blood-related cancers.
Seattle Genetics is rebranding. The company announced Thursday that it was changing the corporate name of the company to Seagen, a blending of Seattle Genetics. The company said the name change reflects the transformation to a global oncology company.
Despite the change of corporate name, the company said it will maintain its focus on the pursuit of developing novel therapies for solid tumors and blood-related cancers. Over the past two decades, Seagen has become a leader in the development of antibody-drug conjugates, an antibody that targets a specific cancer marker and is linked to a cancer drug for more directed therapy.
Clay Siegall, president and chief executive officer of Seagen, said the change in the corporate name reflects the company’s growth beyond its roots in the Pacific Northwest to a global company with an intense focus on oncology. The name change will also help support the commercialization of Tukysa globally, Siegall said. Tukysa was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April for adults with HER2+ breast cancer that cannot be surgically removed or has metastasized to other parts of the body.
“We have three marketed products and a robust development pipeline of novel targeted product candidates. As we increase our global presence by adding new team members and locations outside of the United States as well as through strategic partnerships, we are better positioned to bring important new therapies to cancer patients around the world. Our passion for helping patients is stronger than ever,” Siegall said in a statement.
Along with the new name, the company will adopt a new logo and will change its corporate website from www.seattlegenetics.com to www.seagen.com
Tukysa was developed through Project Orbis, a multinational partnership between the FDA, the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Health Canada, Health Sciences Authority (HSA, Singapore) and Swissmedic (SMC, Switzerland). The drug has also received approval in Australia, Canada, Singapore and Switzerland and is under consideration by the European Medicines Agency. In addition to Tukysa, Seagen’s portfolio also includes Adcetris, which has been approved in more than 70 countries, and Padcev, the first antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) approved for locally advanced or metastatic urothelial (bladder) cancer following treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and a PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor.
In September, when the company was still known as Seattle Genetics, Seagen entered into two strategic collaborations with Merck to accelerate and broaden the global development of the investigational ADC ladiratuzumab vedotin, which targets LIV-1, and the commercialization of Tukysa in Asia, the Middle East, Latin America and other regions outside of the U.S., Canada and Europe. These strategic collaborations will further expand Seagen’s global presence in oncology and ability to deliver cancer medicines around the world, the company said.
Although Seattle Genetics is changing its name, the company’s ticker symbol for the Nasdaq Exchange will remain SGEN.
