Merus Further Expands R&D Capacity

March 07, 2013

Company Contracts R&D Service Provider FairJourney Biologics

Utrecht, The Netherlands, March 7, 2013 – Merus B.V., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on innovative human antibody therapeutics, today announced that it has significantly expanded its capabilities to generate large collections of distinct, unique bispecific antibodies against target combinations.

Under an agreement signed with R&D service provider FairJourney Biologics, Merus will strengthen its R&D resources for selecting the most promising common light chain antibodies generated by its MeMo® transgenic mouse. These antibodies are then formatted into full-length bispecific IgG antibodies - called Biclonics™ - that can be further tested in high-throughput cell-based assays.

“Our MeMo® mouse is a very powerful engine for the generation of large numbers of human monoclonal antibodies with a common light chain,” said Mark Throsby, COO of Merus. “The collaboration with FairJourney will greatly improve our capacity to generate panels of Biclonics™ leading to more product candidates with differentiating properties servicing clinically unmet needs.”

FairJourney was founded by a group of scientists (previously employed by a leading antibody technology company) that have a significant track record in generating therapeutic antibodies to industry standards. “They have consistently impressed us with their speed and expertise,” added Mark Throsby.

“We are very much looking forward to working with Merus,” said António Parada, CEO of FairJourney Biologics. “The Merus platform is unparalleled in generating full-length bispecific IgGs which can be robustly produced at high yields from a single clonal manufacturing cell line using standard approaches. We are happy to contribute to the further success of Merus.”

###

About Merus B.V.

Merus is a biotechnology company building a pipeline of innovative human bispecific antibodies (BiclonicsTM) and single cell-derived combinations of antibodies (Oligoclonics®) for cancer therapy. Through the use of a common antibody light chain and CH3 heterodimerization technology, these full length IgG antibody therapeutics can be robustly produced at high yields from a single clonal manufacturing cell line using standard approaches. Biclonics™ and Oligoclonics® bind to multiple disease-associated targets such as growth factor receptors expressed by tumor cells. Synergy is achieved by addressing multiple pathways/mechanisms simultaneously, thereby eliminating tumor cells more efficiently and preventing treatment escape.

Merus meets a significant need in the oncology field: the supply of bispecific antibodies and single-cell derived antibody combinations with improved clinical efficacy to address the limited potency of conventional antibodies.

For further information, please visit our website at www.merus.nl

Media Inquiries:
akampion
Dr. Ludger Wess or Ines-Regina Buth
Tel. +49 (0)40 88 16 59 64 / +49 (0)30 2363 2768
info@akampion.com

Company Inquiries:
Merus B.V.
S. Margetson - s.margetson@merus.nl
Padualaan 8
3584CH Utrecht, The Netherlands

-------------

Contact // Kontakt akampion Newswire:

Dr. Ludger Wess
Managing Partner, akampion
Hamburg Office
T: +49 (0)40 88 16 59 64
F: +49 (0)40 88 16 59 65
ludger@akampion.com
Ines-Regina Buth
Managing Partner, akampion
Berlin Office
T: +49 (0)30 23632768
F: +49 (0)30 23632769
ines@akampion.com