The 2017 Leaders in Health Care Awards: Achievement in Medical Technology

Through innovative and empowered antibody-based therapies, Seattle Genetics, the largest biotechnology company in the Pacific Northwest, is improving the lives of people with cancer. The global, publicly traded biotech focuses on developing and commercializing a new generation of targeted, antibody-based therapies designed to change the foundation of treatment for cancer patients. It has become the world leader in the development and delivery of novel, targeted cancer-killing therapies called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). ADCs are an innovative class of cancer treatments that target specific receptors on the surface of cancer cells to deliver cancer-killing medication. Unlike chemotherapy, ADCs are intended to target only cancer cells and spare healthy cells, thereby reducing many of the toxic effects of traditional chemotherapy. ADCs consist of an antibody linked to a biologically active cell-killing agent. Used alone or in combination with other treatments such as conventional chemotherapy regimens or novel immunotherapies, Seattle Genetics ADCs are demonstrating the potential to anchor therapeutic strategies that extend survival and improve quality of life. The companys first approved ADC, Adcetris, is available in 65 countries (with partner Takeda). More than 32,000 patients have been treated with it. Data published for the first time last summer showed that 64 percent of Hodgkin lymphoma patients who attained a complete response in a pivotal trial with Adcetris survived for at least five years after treatment.