With 83 full-time employees, OncoMed is focused in the development of antibodies that fight cancer stem cells (CSC). Their works are based on the cancer stem cell technologies that were developed by the founders at the University of Michigan. This platform is licensed from the university and continues to make scientific developments in the field of oncology. The company has several product candidates in the pipeline. These clinical-stage drugs are in various phases of clinical trials and are further developed with the company’s partnership with other pharmaceutical businesses like Bayer.
To date, there are five monoclonal antibodies that OncoMed is further developing into more than a dozen clinical studies. Two other drug candidates are being developed in partnership with Bayer, however, these clinical studies have been put on hold after it has showed side effects of mild to moderate bone-related diseases. The therapeutics that are available nowadays target bulk tumor cells and have very minimal impact on CSCs. Because of this approach in therapy, CSCs are given the opportunity to recur and metastases. This is how the products of OncoMed set apart from the traditional therapeutics as it blocks self-renewal and driving differentiation of these CSCs.
Forming a strategic partnership with Celgene Corporation and GlaxoSmithKline, OncoMed was able to further the development of their product candidates. It is also through these partnerships that the company was able to raise their funding to more than $622 million. Currently, the company holds its headquarters in Redwood City, California.