Genentech's Rituxan Faces Stiff Competition

And Genentech could even inadvertently help HuMax take its sales. Rituxan recently showed some positive phase II results for multiple sclerosis. Should MS become an off-label (or approved) use of Rituxan, HuMax certainly has the potential to steal some of those sales as well.

In order to take on Rituxan, Genmab is in active talks with potential partners for HuMax. The ideal collaborator is a large drug company with existing marketing and manufacturing capacity. Genmab has in the past partnered with Amgen (AMGN Quote), Serono(SRA Quote), Medarex(MEDX Quote) and Roche, which owns 56% of Genentech, for other earlier-stage products.

This is something to keep an eye on. Not only for the impact on Genentech but for the impact on the sector if humanized antibodies begin to gain traction -- as well as to see which Big Pharma name decides to get involved.

There are still a lot of things to like about Genentech, but the coming competition from HuMax is not one of them.