Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc - Initial Statement of Beneficial Ownership (3)

FORM 3	UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES	OMB APPROVAL OMB Number: 3235-0104 Expires: January 31, 2008 Estimated average burden hours per response... 0.5
	Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person ^*

MEDAREX INC

2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (MM/DD/YYYY) 3/7/2008

3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

AVANT IMMUNOTHERAPEUTICS INC [AVAN]

(Last) (First) (Middle)

707 STATE ROAD

4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)

_____ Director ___ X ___ 10% Owner
_____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)

(Street)

PRINCETON, NJ 08540

(City) (State) (Zip)

5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed (MM/DD/YYYY)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

_ X _ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security (Instr. 4)	2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4)	3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
Common Stock	5312539 ⁽¹⁾	D

*Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned ( e.g.* , puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)**
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (MM/DD/YYYY)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
1. Title of Derivate Security (Instr. 4)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security		6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)

Explanation of Responses:

( 1)

The Board of Directors of AVANT Immunotherapeutics, Inc., approved a 1-for 12 reverse stock split of AVANT's common stock, which became effective as of March 7, 2008. As a result of the reverse stock split, each twelve shares of AVANT common stock were combined and reclassified into one share of AVANT common stock. The number of shares reported on this form is reflected on a post-split basis. The common stock will trade under the symbol "AVAND" for 20 trading days beginning on March 10, 2008 to designate that it is trading on a post-reverse split basis, and will remain trading under the symbol "AVAN" after the 20-day period has expired.

Reporting Owners
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
Reporting Owner Name / Address	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
MEDAREX INC 707 STATE ROAD PRINCETON, NJ 08540		X

Signatures
/s/Christian Scade, CFO on behalf of Medarex, Inc.		3/14/2008
^** Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note:	File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB control number.