Press release
Merus and Incyte Present MCLA-145 Program Preclinical Data at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019
CD137 and PD-L1 bispecific antibody with context-dependent T cell activationUTRECHT, Netherlands, April 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merus N.V. (Nasdaq:MRUS)
About this update from Incyte Corporation
[{"type":"text","content":"CD137 and PD-L1 bispecific antibody with context-dependent T cell activationUTRECHT, Netherlands, April 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Merus N.V. (Nasdaq:MRUS) (\"Merus\", \"we\", \"our\" or the \"Company\"), a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing Biclonics®, innovative full-length human bispecific antibody therapeutics, and in collaboration with Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY), presented preclinical data from the MCLA-145 program at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2019 in Atlanta, GA. Merus and Incyte presented two posters outlining preclinical data on MCLA-145, the Biclonics® program targeting CD137 and PD-L1, on Sunday, March 31.\"MCLA-145 data presented at AACR demonstrate potent triple action, designed to recruit and activate T cells through CD137 and prevent their exhaustion through inhibition of PD-1 for patients with solid tumors,\" said Mark Throsby, EVP and Chief Scientific Officer of Merus. \"Because the T cell activation is context-dependent, requiring PD-L1 expression in the tumor microenvironment, MCLA-145 has the potential to overcome known side effects of CD137 agonists currently in development.\"MCLA-145 Poster Presentations at AACR 2019:I. An unbiased screen identifies a CD137xPD-L1 bispecific IgG1 antibody with unique T cell activation and binding propertiesAbstract and Poster number: #541/5Session: PO.IM02.16 - Therapeutic Antibodies 1The poster outlines data demonstrating MCLA-145 binds to CD137 and PD-L1 with relative high affinity, and importantly, the activation of CD137 signaling specifically occurs in the presence of PD-L1 expressing cells through a ‘trans' activation mechanism. MCLA-145 blocks the PD-1 checkpoint inhibition pathway resulting in T cell activation independent of CD137 agonist activity.II. A bispecific Fc-silenced IgG1 antibody (MCLA-145) requires PD-L1 binding to activate CD137Abstract and Poster number: #539/3Session: PO.IM02.16 - Therapeutic Antibodies 1The poster shows MCLA-145 induces CD137 signaling specifically in the presence of PD-L1 expressing cells, with signaling strength directly correlated to PD-L1 expression level. In preclinical studies, MCLA-145 was shown to induce cytokine secretion from T cells, to overcome the suppressive activity of M2 macrophages and Tregs, and to have antitumor activity associated with the recruitment of CD8+ T cel...