US-based pharmaceutical company Mersana Therapeutics has signed a strategic partnership agreement with its Japan-based peer Takeda Pharmaceutical that is potentially worth more than $800m.
Mersana will secure an upfront payment of $40m and another $20m once an investigational new drug application has been granted for the company’s lead drug candidate, XMT-1522, in the US. Takeda has also agreed to provide up to $20m in future funding rounds.
Mersana is eligible for more than $750m in milestone payments for the treatment, which is aimed at breast, gastric and non-small cell lung cancers.
Takeda will co-develop and gain the rights to market XMT-1522 outside of the US and Canada, while Mersana will be responsible for conducting a phase 1 clinical trial.
The partners will strengthen an existing collaboration agreement that will give Takeda further access to Mersana’s Fleximer drug development platform. Fleximer is able to target anti-tumour drugs at cells through the bloodstream.
Mersana will have the option to co-develop and co-commercialise one resulting program of that access in the US at the end of a phase 1 clinical trial, and the two will look to also co-develop new therapies.
The company previously raised $35m in a series B-1 round in March 2015 featuring pharmaceutical firm Pfizer’s corporate venturing division, Pfizer Venture Investments.
The B-1 round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and included Fidelity Biosciences, an investment arm of fund manager Fidelity Worldwide Investments that is now part of F-Prime Capital Partners; Rock Springs Capital Management; and angel investor Elliott Sigal.
Pfizer also took part in Mersana’s $27m series A-1 round in 2012, which was led by NEA and backed by Fidelity Biosciences, ProQuest Investments, Harris and Harris Group and Rho Ventures.
Fidelity Biosciences led a $21m round in 2005 with participation from seed investors PureTech Ventures, Cape Family Fund, Harris and Harris Group, and Lansing Brown Investments.
Mersana secured $14.5m in equity and securities in 2013 and $10m in debt financing in 2012, according to regulatory filings.