Dive Brief:
- Flush with cash and drug development plans, Seattle Genetics said it is adding 100,000 additional square feet of space to its headquarters and plans to hire 100 new staffers each year, according to BioSpace.
- The company began expanding one building in May and expects that project to be finished in early 2017. It is also designing another part of that structure.
- Seattle Genetics raised $552 million (before costs) in a secondary stock offering that closed in mid-September, selling 13.5 million shares at roughly $41 apiece. The proceeds will be used to expand commercialization efforts behind its already approved drug Adcetris (brentuximab vedotin), according to The Seattle Times.
Dive Insight:
As Seattle Genetics develops its biopharma platform, it is planning to expand inside and out.
While it pursues plans for expansion of its major drug, Adcetris, the company, which now has 850 employees, is likely to grow significantly, on track to continue hiring at a rate of 100 employees a year.
Seattle Genetics and partner Japanese drugmaker Takeda announced in August that Adcetris, indicated for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, hit a main endpoint in a Phase 3 trial. The Food and Drug Administration approved use of the endpoint through a special protocol assessment. Adcetris is already approved for third-line treatment.
Adcetris brought in $225 million during 2015, but could significantly increase in revenues if it is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for earlier lines of treatment. The drug is currently in three ongoing late-stage studies, as well as several mid-stage studies in varying indications. It also has two other mid-stage cancer drugs in the pipeline and multiple compounds in Phase 1.