Merus in strategic collaboration with Betta Pharmaceuticals for MCLA-129

Merus announced that it has agreed to grant Betta Pharmaceuticals an exclusive license to develop and commercialize Merus Biclonics MCLA-129 in China. Merus will retain all rights outside of China. Under the terms of the agreement, Betta Pharmaceuticals has agreed to be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of MCLA-129 in China. As a key strategic component of the collaboration, Betta will retain a contract manufacturing organization with experience in filing initial new drug, or IND, applications with U.S. and European regulatory authorities in order to produce clinical trial materials for the Chinese market and rest of world. Betta will facilitate regulatory filings and early stage clinical trial materials supply for potential use by Merus for development of MCLA-129 outside of China. In preclinical studies, MCLA-129 showed a significant reduction in tumor volume for EGFR inhibitor resistant lung cancer models lacking immune cells. Additionally, in cell lines that co-express both EGFR and c-MET, MCLA-129 effectively induced tumor cell lysis at low antibody concentrations. In addition to receiving an upfront payment, Merus will be eligible to receive payments contingent upon Betta Pharmaceuticals achieving certain specified development and commercial goals in China. Merus will also be eligible to receive tiered royalty payments on sales in China from Betta Pharmaceuticals. Betta Pharmaceuticals will be eligible to receive payments contingent upon Merus achieving certain specified development and commercial goals, and will be eligible to receive tiered royalty payments on sales outside of China from Merus.
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