Mersana, Janssen Biotech partner to discover new ADC product candidates

As part of the collaboration, Janssen will provide its antibodies and Mersana will apply its Dolasynthen platform and expertise for the discovery of the new ADC product candidates.

Mersana stated that it may also use Synaffix’s GlycoConnect technology as the preferred site-specific ADC bioconjugation technology for the discovery.

Both the companies will oversee the preclinical development of the target candidates, while Janssen will be solely responsible for the clinical development along with the commercialisation of the products.

Mersana Therapeutics president and CEO Anna Protopapas said: “Our fully homogenous Dolasynthen platform enables both precise control of drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR) as well as the ability to vary the DAR across a broad range. Dolasynthen provides a unique opportunity to optimally design an ADC matched to a given target.

“In addition, by extending our platforms and expertise to new programs beyond our promising wholly-owned and first-in-class pipeline of ADC candidates, we see this value-driving collaboration as further strengthening our financial position as we seek to deliver important new treatments for patients living with cancer.”

Under the terms of the deal, the company will receive $40m of upfront payment along with more than $1bn in potential milestone payments.

Additionally, Mersana will be eligible for reimbursement of certain costs and royalties based on worldwide net sales of ADCs against the selected targets.