Integral Molecular and Merus collaborate to develop bispecific antibody therapeutics

Reviewed by James Ives, M.Psych. (Editor)Dec 12 2018

Integral Molecular, the industry leader in the discovery of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against membrane proteins, and Merus N.V. (Nasdaq:MRUS), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative bispecific antibody therapeutics, announced that they have entered into a collaboration on multiple undisclosed targets.

The collaboration leverages the power of Integral Molecular's proprietary technologies: the MPS Antibody Discovery platform, a technology suite for discovering MAbs against structurally complex proteins; and Lipoparticles, virus-like particles displaying high concentrations of membrane proteins. Using the MPS platform, Integral Molecular has discovered antibody assets targeting membrane proteins important in oncology (Claudin 6) and metabolic diseases (CB1, GLUT4), among others. Many of these MAbs are the first of their kind to be isolated, as complex membrane proteins have historically been extremely difficult targets for antibody discovery.

Cecile Geuijen, PhD, Vice President, Oncology Research of Merus, stated: "Having worked with Integral Molecular for many years, we are excited to formalize this collaboration. Access to Integral Molecular's capabilities will complement our ability to advance our therapeutic pipeline, which is dedicated to delivering novel antibody therapeutic candidates to patients."

"Integral Molecular's technologies are uniquely suited for discovering diverse antibodies against complex membrane proteins, which are the most compelling targets for treating disease," said Ross Chambers, VP of Antibody Discovery at Integral Molecular. "Our MPS platform can be used to discover cross-reactive MAbs against both human and rodent targets, enabling partners such as Merus to advance into preclinical studies as quickly as possible."