De­sert­ed by Take­da, Mer­sana aban­dons lead drug

Mer­sana Ther­a­peu­tics’ rocky road in de­vel­op­ing its lead drug has cul­mi­nat­ed in the aban­don­ment of the ex­per­i­men­tal can­cer treat­ment, days af­ter its high-pro­file part­ner Take­da de­cid­ed to walk away from their deal.

Back in 2016, Take­da and its unit Mil­len­ni­um ex­pand­ed a pri­or part­ner­ship with Mer­sana by se­cur­ing the the ex-US com­mer­cial rights to the Cam­bridge, Mass­a­chu­setts-based com­pa­ny’s then-lead pre­clin­i­cal an­ti­body drug con­ju­gate — XMT-1522 — for $60 mil­lion up­front and a host of oth­er mile­stone pay­ments, which in tan­dem with their ex­ist­ing agree­ment added up to a $1 bil­lion-plus deal.

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