science

Seagen

Seagen is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Seagen rather than just read about it. In short: Seagen Inc. (formerly Seattle Genetics, Inc.) is an American biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative, empowered monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer.

Key takeaways

Seagen belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Seagen to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Seagen from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Seagen Inc. (formerly Seattle Genetics, Inc.) is an American biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative, empowered monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company, headquartered in Bothell, Washington (a suburb of Seattle), was considered the industry leader in antibody-drug conjugates or ADCs, a technology designed to harness the targeting ability of monoclonal antibodies to deliver cell-killing agents directly to cancer cells, with its development of drugs such as Adcetris, Padcev, and Tivdak. Antibody-drug conjugates are intended to spare non-targeted cells and thus reduce many of the toxic effects of traditional chemotherapy, while potentially enhancing antitumor activity. The company's flagship product Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin) is commercially available for four indications in more than 65 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan and members of the European Union. To expand on the clinical opportunities of brentuximab vedotin, Seattle Genetics is conducting a broad clinical development program to evaluate its therapeutic potential in earlier lines of its approved indications as well as in a range of other lymphoma and non-lymphoma settings. The company is jointly developing brentuximab vedotin in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. Under the terms of the collaboration, Seattle Genetics has full commercialization rights to brentuximab vedotin in the United States and Canada. Takeda has exclusive rights to commercialize the product candidate in all other countries. In addition to brentuximab vedotin, Seattle Genetics' product pipeline includes enfortumab vedotin, being co-developed with Astellas Pharma, tisotumab vedotin, being co-developed with Genmab, SGN-LIV1A, an ADC targeting LIV-1, and several immuno-oncology agents in phase 1 studies. In January 2018, the company announced it would acquire Cascadian Therapeutics for $614 million. In September 2020, Merck & Co announced it would purchase $1 billion of Seagen's common stock, with both companies co-developing lead treatment: ladiratuzumab vedotin. In November 2022, the company announced the appointment of David R. Epstein as Chief Executive Officer and Director. Pfizer agreed to acquire Seagen in March 2023 at an enterprise value of $43 billion.

Collaboration agreements Seattle Genetics has collaboration agreements with Takeda Oncology Company (formerly Millennium) to develop and commercialize brentuximab vedotin. The company also has collaboration agreements for their ADC technology with a number of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Bayer Celldex Therapeutics, Inc., Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Inc., and PSMA Development Company LLC, as well as ADC co-development agreements with Agensys, Inc., an affiliate of Astellas Pharma, and Oxford BioTherapeutics Ltd.

Technology

MMAE-based

Seattle Genetics' proprietary monomethyl auristatin E or MMAE-based antibody-drug conjugate technology, employed in brentuximab vedotin, empowers monoclonal antibodies to treat cancer. Brentuximab vedotin, for example, links the chimeric anti-CD30 monoclonal antibody (cAC10) via a protease-cleavable linker to MMAE. This ADC employs a linker system that is designed to be stable in the bloodstream but to release MMAE upon internalization into CD30-expressing tumor cells. This approach is intended to spare non-targeted (healthy) cells and thus reduce many of the toxic effects of traditional chemotherapy while potentially enhancing antitumor activity. (See also vedotins)

History

Early years Seattle Genetics was founded in 1997, by Henry Perry Fell, Jr. and Clay Siegall, and is headquartered in Bothell, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. The company completed an initial public offering in March 2001, and prior to its acquisition by Pfizer, it was traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol SGEN, and was a component of the Nasdaq-100. As of December 2016, the company has more than 900 employees throughout the United States.

2009 19 February: pivotal trial for brentuximab vedotin for Hodgkin lymphoma 18 June: Phase II trial of brentuximab vedotin for anaplastic large cell lymphoma 24 July: initiation of re-treatment clinical trial of brentuximab vedotin 10 August: milestone achievement in collaboration with MedImmune through initiation of Phase I clinical trial of MEDI-547. 8 September: milestone achievement in collaboration with Bayer for the submission of investigational new drug application with the FDA 5 October: discontinuation of Phase IIb trial with dazcetuzumab (also known as SGN-40 or huS2C6) for the treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma 16 November: initiation of Phase I clinical trial for SGN-75 (INN: vorsetuzumab mafodotin) 11 December: termination of collaboration with Genentech for SGN-40 21 December: announcement of new collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline ($12 million up front payment, up to $390 million in milestone payments) In 2009, when it appeared that ADCETRIS could reach the market, the company realized that commercial skills would need to be grown in-house and/or acquired. This led to a decision to grow a commercial team to address the United States and Canadian markets, and a marketing collaboration with Takeda to cover the rest of the world. By 2018, however, the company was confident it could conduct a global commercialization venture.

2010 2 February: initiation of phase I combination clinical trial of brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) for Hodgkin lymphoma 3 March: milestone achievement under collaboration with Genentech 8 April: initiation of Phase III trial for brentuximab vedotin (SGN-35) for post transplant Hodgkin lymphoma 20 April: $9.5 million payment from Genentech to extend collaboration 20 July: initiation of Phase I clinical trial of ASG-5ME for treatment of pancreatic cancer 3 August: expansion of collaboration with Genentech ($12 million upfront payment, up to $900 million in potential fees and milestone payments) 2 September: milestone achievement in collaboration with Agensys for initiation of Phase I trial of AGS-16M8F 14 September: entry into collaboration with Genmab 20 October: initiation of Phase I clinical trial of ASG-5ME in prostate cancer treatment

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Seagen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Seagen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Seagen before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Seagen ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Seagen

In research: Seagen appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Seagen in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Seagen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1997 establishments in Washington (state), 2001 initial public offerings, 2023 mergers and acquisitions, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Seagen outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Seagen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Seagen means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Seagen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Seagen in simple terms?

Why does Seagen matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Seagen?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Seagen.