Merus, a Utrecht, The Netherlands-based biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of human therapeutic antibodies, completed its €21.7m (approximately $30.7m) Series B financing.
The round was led by new investors LSP (Life Sciences Partners), Novartis Option Fund, Pfizer Inc. and Bay City Capital, with participation from seed investor Aglaia Oncology Fund.
Merus plans to use the new funds to further advance its product pipeline in oncology, inflammation and infectious disease.
The company is applying its proprietary technologies (OligoclonicsTM and MeMoTM) to generate combinations of therapeutic antibodies produced from a single cell that boast superior biological activity when compared to single antibodies.
In conjunction with the financing, Merus also entered into an option agreement with the Novartis Option Fund for an exclusive license to one of its oncology programs. The agreement includes upfront and potential milestones payments totaling over $200m plus royalties.
In December last year, the company also received a € 0.67m grant from EuroTransBio for the development of an antibody combination therapy for chronic inflammatory diseases.
FinSMEs
29/01/2010