Endocyte (
NASDAQ: ECYT) is a
biopharmaceutical
A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...
company established in 1996 and headquartered in
West Lafayette, Indiana
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...
,
a resident of the
Purdue Research Park.
In 2011 the company completed successfully an
initial public offering
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...
(IPO). , the company had 93 employees.
[ The original ]president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and CEO, Ron Ellis,[ was succeeded by Mike Sherman, who held a CFO position at the company before this change in June 2016. In 2018 the company was acquired by ]Novartis
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
.
Endocyte is advancing the first technology platform for the creation of small molecule drug conjugates (''a.k.a.'' SMDCs), which consist of a small molecule linked to a potent drug, and is developing a pipeline of SMDCs together with non-invasive companion imaging agents for cancer, inflammatory diseases and kidney disease (autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease/ADPKDor PKD).[
Endocyte’s lead drug candidate is vintafolide, an investigational targeted cancer therapeutic in late-stage development. In 2012 marketing rights were acquired by Merck for $120 million in an upfront payment and up to $880 million in milestone payments.]
Vintafolide is a small molecule drug conjugate consisting of a small molecule targeting the folate receptor, which is expressed on many cancers, such as ovarian cancer, and a potent chemotherapy drug, a derivative of vinblastine
Vinblastine (VBL), sold under the brand name Velban among others, is a chemotherapy medication, typically used with other medications, to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes Hodgkin's lymphoma, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder ca ...
.[ Endocyte retained rights to the development and commercialization of etarfolatide.]
Endocyte’s other preclinical drug candidates also target the folate receptor as well as prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) receptors.[
The company was formed based on technology developed by Philip Low (the company's CSO), and Christopher Leamon, PhD, the company’s VP of research. This technology is a folic acid-based drug delivery system,][ referred to now as folate targeting. The company is also developing SMDCs with varying drug payloads as well as different ligands for other molecular targets, such as prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) and has also developed, with ]Bristol-Myers Squibb
The Bristol Myers Squibb Company (BMS) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company. Headquartered in New York City, BMS is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies and consistently ranks on the ''Fortune'' 500 list of the lar ...
, an epothilone
Epothilones are a class of potential cancer drugs. Like taxanes, they prevent cancer cells from dividing by interfering with tubulin, but in early trials, epothilones have better efficacy and milder adverse effects than taxanes.
, epothilones A t ...
-folic acid conjugate (BMS-753493), described at a 2008 conference.
In mid-October 2018, Novartis
Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
announced it would acquire Endocyte Inc for $2.1 billion ($24 per share) merging it with a newly created subsidiary. Endocyte will bolster Novartis' offering in its radiopharmaceuticals business, with Endocyte's first in class candidate 177Lu-PSMA-617 being targeted against metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
References
External links
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{{authority control
1996 establishments in Indiana
Pharmaceutical companies established in 1996
West Lafayette, Indiana
Pharmaceutical companies of the United States
Health care companies based in Indiana
Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq
2011 initial public offerings
2018 mergers and acquisitions
American subsidiaries of foreign companies
Novartis