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Sutro Biopharma Earns Clinical Supply Milestone Payment from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for Novel Bispecific Antibody Drug Conjugate Targeting Solid Tumors
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRO), a clinical-stage drug discovery, development and
About this update from Sutro Biopharma, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sutro Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: STRO), a clinical-stage drug discovery, development and manufacturing company focused on the application of precise protein engineering and rational design to create next-generation oncology therapeutics, today announced that it has achieved a clinical supply milestone under its collaboration and license agreement with the healthcare division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and is entitled to receive a milestone payment. The candidate, M1231, was discovered using Sutro's XpressCF® and XpressCF+™ drug discovery and manufacturing technologies and includes a proprietary linker-warhead also discovered by Sutro. M1231 is a MUC1-EGFR bispecific antibody drug conjugate (ADC) for the treatment of solid tumors and relies on the strand-exchange engineered domain (SEED) platform from Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to generate bispecific antibody-like molecules.\nThe milestone was achieved with the delivery of GMP clinical trial supply to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany for the Phase 1 clinical trial testing of M1231 pursuant to a 2014 license agreement. As part of the agreement, Sutro will manufacture M1231 for early clinical supply and is eligible for further milestones and royalties. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will be responsible for filling and finishing the drug product, in addition to its clinical development and commercialization.\n\"Reaching the clinical supply milestone in our collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany underscores our continued commitment to deliver novel therapies to patients with cancer,\" said Bill Newell, Sutro's Chief Executive Officer. \"M1231 bispecific ADC was generated with Sutro's XpressCF® and XpressCF+™ drug discovery and manufacturing technologies which enabled the use of iterative optimization through cell-free protein synthesis and site-specific conjugation with the goal of an improved therapeutic window. Through our continued collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, we hope to move closer to bringing new treatment options to cancer patients.\"\n\"M1231 is the first bispecific ADC targeting both MUC1 and EGFR. By combining XpressCF+™ technology with the SEED antibody platform, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany and Sutro in collaboration have developed a unique next generation ADC that has the ...