Mersana Therapeutics announces research collaboration and commercial license agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to develop novel immunosynthen antibody-drug conjugates.
Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. , a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing a pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting cancers in areas of high unmet medical need, announced a research collaboration and commercial license agreement with a subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to discover novel Immunosynthen ADCs directed against up to two targets. Immunosynthen, Mersana’s proprietary STING-agonist ADC platform, is designed to generate systemically administered ADCs that locally activate STING signaling in both tumor-resident immune cells and in antigen-expressing tumor cells, unlocking the anti-tumor potential of innate immune stimulation. The STING pathway is a fundamental means of generating innate immune responses that can lead to anti-tumor activity and immunological memory