Merus, a Netherlands-based biopharmaceutical company backed by pharmaceutical firms Johnson & Johnson, Novartis and Pfizer, is preparing to file for an initial public offering on Nasdaq, Het Financieele Dagblad has reported.
The company is targeting upwards of €100m ($105m) from the IPO, and wants to use the proceeds to advance its pipeline of bispecific antibodies through early-phase clinical trials.
Founded in 2003, Merus is developing antibodies that will be used in treatments for cancer. It reached a pre-clinical milestone in its research and licensing collaboration with Japan-based Ono Pharmaceutical last week, triggering a milestone payment.
Merus raised $30.7m from Novartis Option Fund, Pfizer, Bay City Capital, Life Sciences Partners and its seed investor, Aglaia Oncology Fund, in 2010 before securing $42m in a 2013 series B extension from Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, Novartis Venture Fund, Pfizer Venture Investments, Bay City Capital, LSP and Aglaia Oncology.
In addition to securing equity funding from two of Novartis’ subsidiary funds, Merus has also signed a licensing agreement with the company that could eventually provide it with more than $200m of payments, as well as royalties.
Ton Logtenberg, chief executive of Merus, told Het Financieele Dagblad that the company plans to go public later this year, but did not disclose any details regarding underwriting banks.