Merus, Ono Pharma Enter New Agreement

Merus N.V. has announced that Ono Pharmaceutical Co. has exercised its option under an agreement executed in April 2014 to enter into a new research and license agreement utilizing Merus’ proprietary Biclonics® technology platform to generate a bispecific antibody that binds to a combination of targets designed for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.  

In April 2014, Merus and Ono entered into a research and license agreement to jointly develop bispecific antibody therapies for autoimmune diseases. In 2016, Ono selected a lead bispecific antibody candidate that it intends to advance into clinical testing, which triggered a milestone payment to Merus. By exercising its option under the terms of the first agreement, Ono has agreed to fund research activities at Merus that will generate candidate Biclonics® for the new program. Merus has granted Ono worldwide exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the resulting products developed through the collaboration. 

Consistent with the terms of Merus’ 2014 agreement, under the new agreement, Merus will receive an undisclosed upfront payment. Merus is also eligible to receive milestone payments upon achievement of specified research and clinical development milestones. For products commercialized under this agreement, if any, Merus is also eligible to receive a mid-single digit royalty on net sales.

“Ono’s decision to exercise its option builds on the success to date of the original collaboration we entered into in 2014,” said Ton Logtenberg, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Merus. “As we continue to advance and expand Merus’ proprietary pipeline of innovative therapeutic candidates in oncology, we are very excited to work with a collaborator such as Ono to leverage our Biclonics® technology platform to develop therapeutics for other disease areas with significant unmet medical needs.”  

“We highly value Merus’ proprietary drug discovery technology which effectively generates full-length human bispecific antibody therapeutics,” said Hiromu Habashita, Ph.D., corporate officer, and executive director of Discovery & Research of Ono. “We are glad to expand our collaboration and look forward to realizing the next generation of high value treatments in autoimmune disease area.”