Merus and IRB Barcelona Form Research Collaboration

Merus N.V., a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing bispecific antibody therapeutics, and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB) Barcelona, a research center devoted to understanding fundamental questions about human health and disease, have entered a research collaboration to jointly develop novel agents that target the tumor microenvironment.

The research collaboration will combine Merus’ Biclonics technology platform for the discovery and development of therapeutic bispecific antibodies and IRB’s cell and animal models to evaluate therapeutic targeting of stromal cells that support tumor growth and metastasis.

"This new research collaboration builds on the successful working relationship established in the suppresSTEM consortium that resulted in MCLA-158, a Biclonics targeting EGFR and Lgr5 that is currently in IND-enabling studies," said Mark Throsby, chief scientific officer, Merus. "We anticipate that accessing IRB’s insights and tools to investigate the tumor stromal environment will support the discovery and validation of Biclonics that block the initiation and progression of metastatic cancer."

"Merus’ Biclonics technology represents a promising platform to develop bispecific antibodies to specifically target the tumor stroma," said Eduardo Battle, professor and group leader at IRB. "We are optimistic that this partnership will streamline the generation of differentiated therapeutics to treat patients with difficult-to-treat cancer subtypes."