Merus and Biohaven announce collaboration on joint development of three new bispecific ADC programs Investing.com

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut and UTRECHT, The Netherlands and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, Jan. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Biohaven Ltd . (NYSE: BHVN) and Merus NV (Nasdaq:MRUS), today announced a research collaboration and license agreement to jointly develop three novel bispecific antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), Merus (NASDAQ:)’ leading Biclonics ® technology platform and Biohaven’s next-generation ADC conjugation technologies and payload platforms.

Under the terms of the agreement, Biohaven is responsible for the preclinical ADC generation of three Merus bispecific antibodies according to mutually agreed research plans. The agreement includes two Merus bispecific programs generated using the Biclonics ® platform and one Merus program under preclinical investigation. Each program is subject to a joint agreement to progress to further development, with the parties then sharing the subsequent external development and commercialization costs, if advanced.

We are excited to partner with Biohaven, leveraging their broad range of linkers/payload and conjugation technologies, and expertise in ADC research and development, to rapidly advance bispecific antibody ADC candidates based on the Merus Biclonics® platform , said Peter B. Silverman, Chief Operating Officer of Merus. “We believe that the combination of our Biclonics ® technology, validated by the recent FDA approval of Bizengri ® and continued clinical success with petosemtamab, together with Biohaven’s suite of ADC technologies, has the potential to create new and differentiated bispecific therapies with greater potency and selectivity compared to currently available monoclonal ADC approaches.

“We believe this collaboration with Merus will accelerate our ability to create highly differentiated multispecific ADCs, leveraging Biohaven’s innovative conjugation and payload technology to deliver optimized ADCs with the potential to significantly help patients across cancer types through improved efficacy and safety profile,” he added. Brian Lestini, President, Oncology of Biohaven.

Pursuant to the transaction, Merus will receive an upfront payment and license fee upon nomination of an ADC candidate for the first program, with Merus assuming the preclinical costs of bispecific antibody production and Biohaven assuming the preclinical costs of ADC production. After that, after mutual agreement on the advancement of each program, the parties plan to share the costs of further development and commercialization.

About Merus
Merus is a clinical oncology company developing innovative full-length bispecific and trispecific human antibody therapeutics, known as Multiclonics ® . Multiclonics ® is manufactured using industry standard processes and has been shown in preclinical and clinical studies to have several of the same features of conventional human monoclonal antibodies, such as a long half-life and low immunogenicity. For additional information, visit Merus’ website and LinkedIn.

About Biohaven
Biohaven is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of life-changing treatments in key therapeutic areas including immunology, neuroscience and oncology. Biohaven is advancing its innovative portfolio of therapeutics, leveraging its proven drug development experience and multiple proprietary drug development platforms. Biohaven’s extensive clinical and non-clinical 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 disorders; glutamate modulation for OCD and SCA (spinocerebellar ataxia); myostatin inhibition for neuromuscular and metabolic diseases, including SMA and obesity; antibody recruiting bispecific molecules and antibody conjugates for cancer drugs. For more information, visit www.biohaven.com.

Merus statement about the future

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements contained 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 that Merus may receive under the agreement, the potential for exploitation Biohaven’s wide range of linker/payload and conjugation technologies; Biohaven’s expertise in ADC research and development; the potential for collaboration to rapidly advance bispecific antibody candidate ADCs based on the Merus Biclonics platform; our belief that the combination of our Biclonics technology is validated by the recent FDA approval of Bizengri ® and continued clinical success with petosemtamab; the potential of collaboration to create new and differentiated bispecific therapies with greater potency and selectivity compared to currently available monoclonal ADC approaches; and the ability to create highly differentiated multispecific ADCs, leveraging Biohaven’s innovative conjugation and carrier technology to deliver optimized ADCs with the potential to significantly benefit patients with various cancer types through an improved efficacy and safety profile; and our belief in the advantages of the technologies and the ability of the parties to develop new therapies. 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 differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statement, including but not limited to: our need for additional financing, which may not be available and which may require us to limit our operations or require us to relinquish rights to our technologies or product candidates; antibodies; potential delays in regulatory approval, which would affect our ability to commercialize our product candidates and affect our ability to generate revenue; a long and expensive process of clinical drug development that has an uncertain outcome; the unpredictable nature of our early development efforts for marketed drugs; potential delays in patient enrollment, which could affect obtaining necessary regulatory approvals; our reliance on third parties to conduct our clinical trials and the possibility that those third parties may not demonstrate satisfactory results; the impacts of instability 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 adequately work within our collaboration; our reliance on third parties to manufacture our product candidates, which may delay, prevent or impair our development and commercialization efforts; protecting our own technology; our patents may be declared invalid, unenforceable, circumvented by competitors and our patent applications may be found to be inconsistent with patentability rules and regulations; we may be unable to prevail on potential claims for infringement of third party intellectual property; and our registered or unregistered trademarks or trade names may be challenged, infringed, circumvented or declared generic or found to infringe the rights of other marks.

These and other important factors 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 (SEC) on October 31, 2024 and our other reports filed with the SEC, could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements in this press release. All 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 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 after the date of this press release.

Multiclonics ® , Biclonics ® and Triclonics ® are registered trademarks of Merus NV

Biohaven Future Statement
This release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Use of certain words, including “continue,” “plan,” “will,” “believe,” “may,” “expect ” “, “anticipate” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements, including statements regarding future development, timing and potential marketing approval and commercialization of development candidates, are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve substantial risks and uncertainties Actual results, developments and events may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors including: the expected timing, initiation and outcomes of planned and ongoing clinical the timing of Biohaven’s planned interactions and submissions to the FDA; compliance with applicable US regulatory requirements; potential commercialization of Biohaven product candidates; and the efficacy and safety of Biohaven’s product candidates. Additional important factors to consider in connection with forward-looking statements are described in Biohaven’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including within the sections entitled “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: Merus NV