Merus Granted European Patent on MeMo®, a Transgenic Mouse for Generating the Building Blocks of Therapeutic Human Bispecific Antibodies

October 23, 2013

- Invention provides unique technology base for therapeutic human bispecific antibodies
- Full-length IgG format of bispecific antibodies facilitates standard manufacturing processes

Utrecht, The Netherlands, October 23, 2013 – Merus B.V., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on innovative antibody therapeutics, today announced that it has been granted a European patent on its MeMo® transgenic mouse for the generation of common light chain human antibodies. Using standard industry processes, MeMo®-derived common light chain antibodies can be manufactured in clonal cell lines to efficiently obtain full-length IgG human bispecific antibodies (branded as Biclonics™) for therapy.

“We are very pleased about this important patent as it underlines our unique approach to creating improved antibody therapeutics,” said Ton Logtenberg, CEO of Merus. “MeMo® is distinct from other transgenic mice for human antibodies because the common light chain facilitates co-expression of two antibodies in a single cell to generate functional bispecific antibodies. By screening thousands of bispecific antibodies in cell-based assays, antibody therapeutics with truly superior functional activities are efficiently identified. The full-length IgG format provides for using established, ‘off-the-shelve’ analytical and manufacturing processes which are already in place for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.”

“This is a major accomplishment of Merus,” said Jason Avery, CBO of Merus. “The company has built an exceptional product and technology base for superior therapeutics that combine the benefits of full-length IgG monoclonal antibodies with the ability of simultaneously addressing multiple disease targets. MeMo® is a source of large panels of high quality human antibodies that may be used to rapidly identify bispecific antibody leads. We are offering biopharmaceutical companies worldwide a non-exclusive license to MeMo®. There are no target restrictions and license terms are flexible.”

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About Merus B.V.

Merus is a fully-integrated biotechnology company developing cancer therapeutics that combine the benefits of monoclonal antibodies with the ability of simultaneously addressing multiple targets. Merus has two lead programs in development, MCLA-128 for the treatment of solid tumors and MCLA-117 for the treatment of hematological malignancies. The company is also developing a broad pipeline of preclinical programs that are available for partnering. Merus’ technologies encompass the proprietary MeMo® transgenic mouse for common light-chain human antibodies and the CH3 heterodimerization technology for the production of full-length IgG Biclonics™. These Biclonics™ are robustly produced from a single clonal manufacturing cell line, using industry-standard systems. Merus’ Biclonics™ bind to multiple disease-associated targets, thereby eliminating tumor cells more efficiently and preventing treatment escape. In Merus´ Biclonics™-ENGAGE approach used in the MCLA-117 program, bispecific antibodies are used to induce the cytotoxic activity of T cells to kill cancer cells. All of Merus’ technologies are available for licensing.
For further information, please visit our website at www.merus.nl

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akampion
Dr. Ludger Wess or Ines-Regina Buth
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S. Margetson - s.margetson(at)merus.nl
Padualaan 8
3584CH Utrecht, The Netherlands

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Ines-Regina Buth
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