On January 5, 2024 Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRSN), 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, reported business updates, its expected 2024 milestones and its upcoming presentation at the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference (Press release, Mersana Therapeutics, JAN 5, 2024, View Source [SID1234639015]).

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"Mersana’s next-generation ADC platforms are designed to overcome key limitations of traditional ADCs," said Martin Huber, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Mersana Therapeutics. "We gained important new learnings in 2023 that affirmed the differentiation of both Dolasynthen, our next-generation cytotoxic ADC platform, and Immunosynthen, our STING-agonist ADC platform.

"In 2024, we plan to demonstrate over several data presentations how Dolasynthen’s preclinical differentiation translates into the clinic. These presentations will include initial clinical data from our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of XMT-1660. We also are looking forward to progressing dose escalation in our Phase 1 clinical trial of XMT-2056 as we strive to advance ADCs beyond cytotoxics by enabling targeted innate immune stimulation via our Immunosynthen platform," Dr. Huber continued. "With these programs in motion, multiple collaborations in place and a strong balance sheet, Mersana is well positioned to meaningfully advance its mission to discover and develop life-changing ADCs for patients fighting cancer."

Business Updates and Expected Milestones

XMT-1660: Mersana continues to advance its Phase 1 clinical trial of XMT-1660, the company’s lead Dolasynthen ADC candidate targeting B7-H4. The trial is currently enrolling patients in dose escalation at dose level 6 as well as in backfill cohorts to optimize dose and schedule. Mersana plans to initiate tumor-specific expansion cohorts in the second quarter of 2024 and share initial dose escalation and backfill cohort data in mid-2024.
XMT-2056: Mersana is restarting its Phase 1 clinical trial of XMT-2056, the company’s lead Immunosynthen ADC candidate targeting a novel HER2 epitope. The company plans to advance dose escalation in 2024. XMT-2056 is wholly owned by Mersana. GSK plc has an exclusive global license option to co-develop and commercialize the candidate.
Additional Upcoming Data Presentations: In the first half of 2024, Mersana expects to present data at multiple scientific meetings demonstrating Dolasynthen’s differentiation from first-generation cytotoxic ADC platforms. The presentations will include clinical data from two discontinued ADC candidates, XMT-1592 and XMT-1536 (UpRi).
Collaborations: Mersana continues to advance its collaborations with Janssen Biotech, Inc. and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The collaboration and license agreement with Janssen focuses on discovering novel Dolasynthen ADCs for up to three targets. The collaboration and license agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany focuses on discovering novel Immunosynthen ADCs for up to two targets. In 2023, Mersana received development milestone payments from both collaborations.
Financial Resources: Mersana’s cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of September 30, 2023 were $241.0 million. The company continues to expect that its available funds will be sufficient to support its current operating plan commitments into 2026.
Upcoming J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference Presentation and Webcast
Mersana President and CEO Dr. Martin Huber will present at the 42nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 11, 2024 at 2:15 p.m. Eastern Time/11:15 a.m. Pacific Time. A live webcast of this event will be available on the Investors & Media section of Mersana’s website at www.mersana.com. An archived replay will be available for approximately 90 days following the event.