Merus has filed an F-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). No terms were given in the filing, but the offering is valued up to $60 million. The company intends to list on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol MRUS.
The underwriters for the offering were Citigroup, Jefferies, Guggenheim Securities and Wedbush Pacgrow.
This is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative bispecific antibody therapeutics. Its pipeline of full-length human bispecific antibody candidates, which are referred to as Biclonics, that are generated from its technology platform. By binding to two different antigens, or targets, Biclonics can be designed to simultaneously block receptors that drive tumor cell growth and survival and to mobilize the patient’s immune response by activating various killer cells to eradicate tumors.
In pre-clinical studies, the bispecific antibody candidates were effective in killing tumor cells, a result that the Merus believes supports its potential efficacy in the treatment of cancer.
In February 2015, the company commenced a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its lead bispecific antibody candidate, MCLA-128, for the treatment of HER2-expressing solid tumors, and Merus expects to report top-line results from this trial in the first half of 2017. In the first quarter of 2016, the company expects to commence a Phase 1/2 clinical trial with its second bispecific antibody candidate, MCLA-117, for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Additionally, Merus has several bispecific antibody candidates in pre-clinical development that bind to combinations of immunomodulatory molecules, including programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) both of which the company believes play a significant role in treating cancer.
The company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to develop its pipeline. The remainder will go to fund its other current and future research and development activities and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
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