On March 6, GILD.US (GILD.US) announced a partnership with Merus (MRUS.US) to jointly develop a variety of tri-specific antibodies targeting novel tumor-related antigens (TAAs).
The Zhitong Finance App learned that on March 6, GILD.US (GILD.US) announced a cooperation agreement with Merus (MRUS.US), and the two sides will jointly develop a variety of tri-specific antibodies targeting novel tumor-related antigens (TAAs). According to the agreement, Merus is required to carry out the two selected projects to the target stage and optionally carry out a third project. Gilead will be responsible for additional research, development, and commercialization activities for selected projects, that is, equity locking. Once in power, Merus will receive an initial payment of 56 million US dollars and an equity investment of 25 million US dollars, with a potential transaction amount exceeding 1.5 billion US dollars.
This collaboration is another step in Gilead's multi-resistance layout after Tentarix. Both deals involved multiple pre-clinical projects, and Tentarix will receive $66 million in equity financing.
The pipelines published on Merus's official website are all dual-antibody products. In 2016, Incyte and Merus collaborated on 11 bispecific antibodies. Incyte will make an advance payment of $120 million and purchase Merus's $80 million common stock. In addition, Merus has cooperated with pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lilly, Xiansheng Pharmaceuticals, and Betta Pharmaceuticals. Xiansheng Pharmaceutical obtained Chinese rights in three bispecific antibodies, and Betta Pharmaceuticals obtained Chinese rights in MCLA-129 (eGFR×c-Met).