Merus Announces Publication of the Generation of Single, Clonal Cell lines

June 02, 2010

Merus BV today announced the April 16, 2010 online publication of data by J. de Kruif et. al., in the ‘Early View’ section of the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering that demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of producing mixtures of human monoclonal antibodies (recombinant polyclonal antibodies) using a single, clonal production cell line. These data firmly establish the proprietary Oligoclonics™ technology of Merus as an attractive platform for the manufacturing of a new generation of more potent human antibody-based therapeutics.

“Is has long been known that mixtures of antibodies convey more potent biological effects than single monoclonal antibodies and that this could be translated into a therapeutic benefit” says Dr. Ton Logtenberg, CEO of Merus “but the lack of a stable, high yield production system based on a single cell line has hampered development of recombinant therapeutic polyclonal antibodies. What is particularly exciting about the data published is the novel demonstration that, using industry standard production technologies, cell lines secreting mixtures of antibodies could be robustly generated. We have found that cell line growth and IgG production characteristics are similar to those achieved with monoclonal antibodies and ratios of individual antibody species in the mixture remain constant, while maintaining high yields. This platform will allow the cost-effective development and manufacturing of recombinant polyclonal antibodies with more potent clinical effects”.

About Merus (www.merus.nl).
Merus is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company building a pipeline of innovative human therapeutic antibody products. By using its proprietary technology platforms that include novel transgenic mice (MeMo™), Merus aims to produce highly potent human antibody-based drugs for the treatment of cancer, infectious and inflammatory diseases, whether as full-length bispecific antibodies (Biclonics™) or as recombinant polyclonal antibodies produced by a single cell (Oligoclonics™).

For further information:
Ton Logtenberg, CEO E-mail: t.logtenberg@merus.nl