Medarex, Inc.
707 State Road, Suite 206
Princeton, NJ 08540-1437
609-430-2880
Fax: 609-430-2850
www.medarex.com                           June 7, 2001


Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street N.W.
Washington, DC  20549
Mail Stop 3-9

Attention:  Jeffrey Riedler - Assistant Director

          Re:  Medarex, Inc. (the "Company")
               Application For Withdrawal of
               Registration Statement on Form S-3
               Filed on June 13, 2000
               File No. 333-39188
               ------------------

Dear Mr. Riedler:

          In response to your letter dated May 17, 2001, and pursuant to Rule
477 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), the Company hereby
requests that the above-referenced Registration Statement (the "Registration
Statement") be withdrawn from registration.  Pursuant to the provisions of Rule
477 (c), please be advised that no securities have been sold in connection with
the offering.

          The Registration Statement was originally filed to fulfill certain
registration rights granted by the Company to one of its shareholders, Novartis
Pharma AG ("Novartis").  All of the securities to be registered under the
Registration Statement were to be offered and sold by Novartis.  These
registration rights terminated (subsequent to the filing of the Registration
Statement) once the securities being registered under the Registration Statement
became available for sale without volume limitation under Rule 144 of the Act.
Since all of the securities currently held by Novartis may be sold without any
volume limitation under Rule 144, the Company has no further obligation to
register such securities.  Therefore, the Company respectfully requests that the
Commission consent to this application for withdrawal of the Registration
Statement.

          If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the
undersigned.

                                    Very truly yours,

                                    /s/ W. Bradford Middlekauff
                                    W. Bradford Middlekauff
                                    Senior Vice President, General Counsel and
                                           Secretary