NEW HAVEN, Conn., Utrecht, Netherlands and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Biohaven Ltd. has announced… (NYSE: BHVN) and Merus NV (Nasdaq: MRUS), today announced a research collaboration and licensing agreement to co-develop three novel bispecific antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), leveraging Merus (NASDAQ: MRUS)' leading Biclonics ® technology platform. , Biohaven's next-generation ADC payload and coupling platform technologies.
Under the terms of the agreement, Biohaven will be responsible for generating preclinical ADCs for three Merus bispecific antibodies under mutually agreed upon research plans. The agreement includes two Merus bispecific programs created using the Biclonics® platform, and one program in preclinical research by Merus. Each program is subject to mutual agreement to progress to further development, with the parties then sharing in subsequent external development and commercialization costs, if progressed.
We are excited to collaborate with Biohaven, leveraging its broad portfolio of binding/payload and conjugation technologies, and expertise in ADCs R&D, to rapidly advance bispecific antibody ADC candidates based on the Merus Biclonics ® platform,” said Peter B. Silverman, President. Chief Operating Officer at Merus. “We believe that the combination of our Biclonics ® technology, validated by the recent FDA approval of Bizengri ® and continued clinical success with petosemtamab, along with Biohaven's portfolio of ADC technologies, has the potential to generate new therapeutics.” It has distinct bispecificity and greater efficacy and selectivity over currently available monoclonal ADC approaches.
“We believe this collaboration with Merus will accelerate our ability to create multi-specific, highly differentiated ADCs, leveraging Biohaven's innovative conjugation and payload technologies to deliver improved ADCs with the potential to significantly benefit patients across different cancer types with an enhanced efficacy and safety profile,” he added. . Brian Lestini, chief of oncology at Biohaven.
Under the deal, Merus will receive an upfront payment and license fee when an ADC candidate is nominated for the first program, with Merus assuming the cost of generating the preclinical bispecific antibodies, and Biohaven bearing the cost of generating the preclinical antibodies. Then, based on mutual agreement to develop each program, the two parties plan to share more development and marketing costs.
About Meros
Merus is a clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative full-body dual- and triple-specific antibody therapies, referred to as Multiclonics ®. Multiclonics ® are manufactured using industry standard processes and have been observed in preclinical and clinical studies to have many of the same features as conventional human monoclonal antibodies, such as long half-life and reduced immunogenicity. For additional information, please visit the Merus website and LinkedIn.
About Beauhaven
Biohaven is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing life-changing therapies in key therapeutic areas, including immunology, neuroscience and oncology. Biohaven is advancing its innovative portfolio of therapeutics, leveraging its proven drug development expertise and proprietary multi-drug development platforms. Biohaven's extensive clinical and non-clinical programs include Kv7 ion channel modulation for the treatment of epilepsy and mood disorders; Extracellular protein degradation in immunological diseases. TRPM3 antagonism for migraine and neuropathic pain. TYK2/JAK1 inhibition for neuroinflammatory disorders. Glutamate modulation of OCD and SCA (spinocerebellar ataxia); Myostatin inhibition of neuromuscular and metabolic diseases, including spinal muscular atrophy and obesity; Antibodies recruit bispecific molecules and accompany antibody drugs for cancer treatment. For more information, visit www.biohaven.com.
Merus Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding The potential preclinical and clinical development of any bispecific ADC under the parties' agreement, the commercial potential of such programs, any future payments Merus may receive under the agreement, and the potential to leverage Biohaven's broad linker/payload portfolio Utility and coupling techniques; Biohaven's expertise in research and development of ADCs; Collaboration potential to rapidly advance bispecific antibody candidates based on the Merus Biclonics platform; Our belief that the combination of our Biclonics technology has been validated by the recent FDA approval of Bizengri ® and continued clinical success with petosemtamab; the potential for collaboration to generate new, differentiated bispecific therapies with greater efficacy and selectivity compared to currently available monoclonal ADC approaches; the ability to create multi-species, highly differentiated ADCs, leveraging Biohaven's innovative conjugation and payload technologies to deliver optimized ADCs with the potential to significantly benefit patients across different cancer types through an enhanced efficacy and safety profile; We believe in the advantages of limb technologies and their ability to develop new treatments. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the outlook. Statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our need for additional financing, which may not be available and which may require us to restrict our operations or require us to waive our rights to our technologies or antibody candidates; potential delays in regulatory approval, which could impact our ability to commercialize our product candidates and impact our ability to generate revenues; the long and expensive process of clinical drug development, which has uncertain outcomes; the unpredictable nature of our efforts in early-stage development of marketable medicines; potential delays in patient enrollment, which could impact the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals; our reliance on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and the possibility that those third parties will not perform satisfactorily; the effects of fluctuations in the global economy, including global instability, including ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East; We may not identify suitable Biclonics ® or bispecific antibody candidates within our collaboration or our collaborators may fail to perform adequately within our collaboration; our reliance on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, which may delay, prevent or impair our development and commercialization efforts; Protect our technology; Our patents may be found invalid, unenforceable, or circumvented by competitors, and our patent applications may be found not to comply with patentability rules and regulations; We may fail to prevail in potential lawsuits related to third-party intellectual property infringement; Our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented, declared generic, or determined to be infringing on other marks.
These and other important factors are discussed under the heading Risk Factors in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2024, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on October 31, 2024, and our other reports filed with the SEC. and the stock exchange, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management's estimates as of the date of this press release. Although we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we disclaim any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our views to change, except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
Multiclonics ®, Biclonics ® and Triclonics ® are registered trademarks of Merus NV
Biohaven Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of certain words, including “continue,” “plan,” “will,” “believe,” “may,” and “Expects,” “anticipates” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the future development, timing, potential marketing approval and commercialization of development candidates, are not guarantees future performance or results and involves significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results, developments and events may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including: the expected timing and outcome of Biohaven's planned and ongoing clinical trials; the timing and outcome of expected regulatory filings; compliance with applicable U.S. regulatory requirements; and the potential commercialization of Biohaven's product candidates; and the effectiveness and safety of Biohaven's product candidates are described Additional considerations should be made regarding forward-looking statements in Biohaven's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including within the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and Biohaven undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Merus Investor and Media Inquiries:Sherri SpearMerus N.V.SVP Investor Relations and Strategic Communications617-821-3246s.spear@merus.nlKathleen FarrenMerus N.V.Assoc. Director IR/Corp Comms617-230-4165k.farren@merus.nlBioHaven Investor and Media Inquiries:Investor Contact:Jennifer PorcelliVice President, Investor Relationsjennifer.porcelli@biohavenpharma.com+1 (201) 248-0741Media Contact:Mike BeyerSam Brown Inc.mikebeyer@sambrown.com+1 (312) 961-2502
Source: Miros NV
