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NEW HAVEN, Conn. and UTRECHT, The Netherlands and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Biohaven Ltd. (NYSE: BHVN) and Merus NV (Nasdaq:MRUS), today announced a research collaboration and license agreement to develop three bispecific antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), leveraging Merus (NASDAQ: )’ leading Biclonics ® technology platform, and Biohaven’s next-generation ADC communication and payload technology.
Under the terms of the agreement, Biohaven is responsible for the first ADC production of three Merus antibodies under the agreed research projects. The agreement includes two Merus bispecific programs developed using the Biclonics ® platform, and one program under pre-clinical research by Merus. Each program must be mutually agreed upon to proceed to development, and the parties will share the subsequent costs of external and commercial development, if it proceeds.
We are pleased to partner with Biohaven, leveraging their broad range of connectivity/reward and integration technologies, and expertise in ADC research and development, to rapidly develop antibody ADCs that based on the Merus Biclonics ® platform, said Peter B. Silverman, Chief Operating Officer of Merus. “We believe that the combination of our Biclonics ® technology, confirmed by the recent FDA approval of Bizengri ® and continued clinical success with petosemtamab, together with the Biohaven suite of ADC technologies, has the potential to to develop new and different therapeutics with greater potency and selectivity over current monoclonal ADCs.
“We believe this collaboration with Merus will accelerate our ability to develop highly differentiated ADCs, leveraging Biohaven’s innovative integration and costing technologies to deliver improved ADCs with and the opportunity to help patients of various types of cancer with improved performance and safety profile,” he added. Brian Lestini, President, Biohaven Oncology.
Pursuant to the transaction, Merus will receive an upfront payment and license fee from the selection of an ADC candidate in the first phase, and Merus will assume the pre-clinical antibody production costs, and Biohaven will assume the pre-clinical production costs of the ADC. After that, with the agreement to develop each program, the parties plan to share some of the costs of the development and the business.
About Merus
Merus is a clinical-stage oncology company developing novel bispecific human and trispecific antibody therapeutics, called Multiclonics ® . Multiclonics ® is manufactured using standard industrial methods and has been observed in preclinical and clinical studies to have several features in common with normal human antibodies, such as a long half-life health and physical weakness. For more information, please visit the Merus website and LinkedIn.
About Biohaven
Biohaven is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of life-changing therapies in key therapeutic areas, including immunology, neuroscience and oncology. Biohaven has developed its new therapeutics process, leveraging its proven drug development experience and multiple platforms for drug delivery. Biohaven’s extensive clinical and nonclinical programs include Kv7 ion channel modulation for epilepsy and mood disorders; extracellular protein degradation for immunological diseases; TRPM3 antagonism for migraine and neuropathic pain; TYK2/JAK1 inhibition for neuroinflammatory diseases; glutamate modulation for OCD and SCA (spinocerebellar ataxia); myostatin inhibition for neuromuscular and metabolic diseases, including SMA and obesity; antibody recruits bispecific molecules and antibody drug conjugates for cancer. For more information, visit www.biohaven.com.
Merus Preview 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 historical facts should be considered forward-looking statements. expectations, including without limitation regarding the potential pre-clinical and clinical development of any bispecific ADC under the agreement of the parties, the commercial viability of such programs, payments or what future benefits Merus may receive under the agreement, the ability to use Biohaven’s broad range of connection/payment and integration technologies; Biohaven’s expertise in research and development of ADCs; the partnership’s ability to rapidly advance bispecific antibody candidate ADCs based on the Merus Biclonics platform; our belief that the combination of our Biclonics technology is warranted by the recent FDA approval of Bizenri ® and continued clinical success with petosemtamab; the potential for collaboration to develop new and different therapeutics that are more potent and selective than currently available monoclonal ADCs; and the ability to create highly differentiated ADCs, using Biohaven’s innovative compounding and payload technologies to deliver improved ADCs with the potential to significantly benefit patients in a variety of cancer types ‘e with improved performance and safety level; and our belief in the scientific merits of the parties and the ability to develop new treatments. These statements are not promises or guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause our actual results, performance or success to differ materially from any future results, performance or success expressed or implied by the future. statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our need for additional funds, which may not be available and which may require us to suspend our operations or require to license our technology or antibody. candidates; potential delays in regulatory approvals, which could affect our ability to market our products and affect our ability to generate revenue; the long and expensive process of clinical drug development, which has an uncertain outcome; the unpredictable nature of our early marketable drug development efforts; potential delays in patient enrollment, which could affect the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals; reliance on third parties to perform our clinical trials and the possibility that those third parties may not perform satisfactorily; the effects of global economic uncertainty, including global uncertainty, including ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East; we may not identify qualified Biclonics ® or bispecific antibody candidates under our partnerships or our collaborators may fail to perform adequately under our partnerships; our reliance on third parties to make our product selections, which could delay, prevent or hinder our development and business efforts; the security of our proprietary technology; our patents may be found to be invalid, unenforceable, circumvented by competitors and our patent applications may be found to be inconsistent with copyright laws and regulations; we may fail to prevail in potential third-party intellectual property infringement lawsuits; and our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, misappropriated or declared generic or intended to infringe other trademarks.
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 31 October 2024, and our other reports. filed with the SEC, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Any such forward-looking statements represent management’s estimates as of the date of this press release. Although we may choose to update such forward-looking statements in the future, we do not undertake any obligation to do so, even if subsequent events cause our opinion to change, except as required under applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any date after the date of this announcement.
Multiclonics ®, Biclonics ® and Triclonics ® are registered trademarks of Merus NV.
Biohaven Preview Statement
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The use of certain words, including “forward”, “strategy”, “will”, “believe”, ” mo ka”, “expect”. “,” expect” and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any forward-looking statements, including statements about future development, timing and approval potential marketing and sales leads are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve significant risks and uncertainties.Actual results , updates and events may vary differently than anticipated due to various factors including: the timing, initiation and results of Biohaven’s planned and ongoing clinical trials; the timing of planned transactions and filings with the FDA; and the outcome of anticipated regulatory compliance; the potential commercialization of Biohaven’s product candidates; and the efficacy and safety of Biohaven’s product candidates. Other important considerations in connection with forward-looking statements are set forth in Biohaven’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Communication and Analysis of Financial Position and Results of Operations”. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and Biohaven does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, current events forthcoming or otherwise, unless 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: Merus NV
