Merus Receives Milestone Payment from Ono Pharmaceutical for Selection of Bispecific Antibody Candidate for Clinical Development and Extends Partnership with CMC Service Agreement
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
UTRECHT, The Netherlands, Oct. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merus N.V.
(NASDAQ:MRUS), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative
bispecific antibody therapeutics, today announced that the Company received an
undisclosed milestone payment from Ono Pharmaceutical Co., LTD. (Osaka, Japan,
'Ono'), under the ongoing collaboration between the two companies. The milestone
was triggered as a result of pre-clinical confirmatory studies using the
selected lead bispecific antibody candidate that Ono intends to advance into
clinical testing. Ono and Merus have also extended their collaboration by
signing an additional agreement for CMC activities to be carried out by Merus.
"Our research partnership with Ono continues to move ahead of schedule and yield
promising results demonstrating the broad applicability of our Biclonics®
platform," said Ton Logtenberg, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Merus. "This
proprietary technology, which generates full-length human IgG antibodies, allows
for the rapid identification of bispecifics with functionality that is superior
to conventional monoclonal antibodies. We are delighted that our work with Ono
has resulted in the generation of a therapeutic candidate for autoimmune and
related diseases that warrants further evaluation in a clinical setting, and we
look forward to developing additional innovative therapeutics with this world-
class partner."
In April 2014, Merus and Ono executed a research and license agreement to
jointly develop bispecific antibody therapies in autoimmune diseases. In April
2015, Merus received a milestone payment for achieving preclinical proof-of-
concept with a lead bispecific antibody.
About Merus N.V.
Merus is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative full
length human bispecific antibody therapeutics, referred to as Biclonics®.
Biclonics® are based on the full-length IgG format, are manufactured using
industry standard processes and have been observed in preclinical studies to
have several of the same features of conventional monoclonal antibodies, such as
long half-life and low immunogenicity. Merus' lead bispecific antibody
candidate, MCLA-128, is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial in Europe
as a potential treatment for HER2-expressing solid tumors. Merus' second
bispecific antibody candidate, MCLA-117, is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2
clinical trial in patients with acute myeloid leukemia. The Company also has a
pipeline of proprietary bispecific antibody candidates in preclinical
development, including MCLA-158, which is designed to bind to cancer stem cells
and is being developed as a potential treatment for colorectal cancer and other
solid tumors, and Biclonics® designed to bind to various combinations of
immunomodulatory molecules, including PD-1 and PD-L1.
Contacts:
Merus N.V.
Shelley Margetson - s.margetson(at)merus.nl
+31 (0)30 253 8800
Argot Partners
Kimberly Minarovich - kimberly(at)argotpartners.com
1-212-600-1902
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Source: Merus N.V. via GlobeNewswire
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 19.10.2016 - 13:00 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 501526
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contact information:
Town:
Utrecht
Kategorie:
Business News
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