Posted on 7 March, 2013

Under an agreement signed with R&D service provider FairJourney Biologics, Merus will strengthen its R&D resources for selecting the most promising common light chain antibodies generated by its MeMo® transgenic mouse. These antibodies are then formatted into full-length bispecific IgG antibodies – called Biclonics™ – that can be further tested in high-throughput cell-based assays.
 
“Our MeMo® mouse is a very powerful engine for the generation of large numbers of human monoclonal antibodies with a common light chain,” said Mark Throsby, COO of Merus. “The collaboration with FairJourney will greatly improve our capacity to generate panels of Biclonics™ leading to more product candidates with differentiating properties servicing clinically unmet needs.”
 
FairJourney was founded by a group of scientists (previously employed by a leading antibody technology company) that have a significant track record in generating therapeutic antibodies to industry standards. “They have consistently  impressed us with their speed and expertise,” added Mark Throsby.
 
“We are very much looking forward to working with Merus,” said António Parada, CEO of FairJourney Biologics. “The Merus platform is unparalleled in generating full-length bispecific IgGs which can be robustly produced at high yields from a single clonal manufacturing cell line using standard approaches. We are happy to contribute to the further success of Merus.”