BRIEF—New Sino-Dutch I-O collaboration related to three antibodies

Dutch I-O specialist Merus and China’s Simcere Pharmaceutical have agreed a deal related to Merus’ proprietary Biclonics technology platform.

Simcere will receive an exclusive license to develop and commercialize in China three bispecific antibodies, and Merus will retain all rights outside of China.

Merus will lead research and discovery activities.

Simcere will be responsible for IND enabling studies and manufacturing of clinical trial materials in China, which Merus intends to use to assist regulatory filing and early stage clinical development in the rest of the world.

Merus CEO Ton Logtenberg said: “We believe this collaboration leverages Merus’ unique platform and Biclonics suite of technologies with Simcere’s drug development experience and strong commercial presence in China.”

Merus will be eligible to receive upfront and milestone payments contingent upon Simcere achieving certain specified development and commercial goals.

Merus will be eligible to receive tiered royalty payments on sales of any products resulting from the collaboration in China from Simcere.

Simcere will be eligible to receive tiered royalty payments on sales outside of China from Merus.