R&D Approach

Drug development programs with significant therapeutic potential are often faced with challenges that may otherwise limit clinical success, including difficulties with drug solubility, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, bioavailability, biodistribution and immunogenicity.

 

Mersana combines proprietary drugs from new or existing therapeutic classes with the company’s custom conjugation technology, comprised of a Fleximer^® polymer and a broad variety of linker chemistries, to engineer new drugs that overcome specific hurdles:

 

• Use of a specifically selected Fleximer polymer "backbone" to dramatically improve solubility, improve pharmacokinetics, reduce immunogenicity and optimize drug load
• Application of custom-selected linkers designed to precisely control the mechanism, rate and localization of drug release, or to ensure stability in circulation
• Incorporation of targeting moieties, such as antibodies or antibody fragments, via one linker chemistry, while providing maximal drug load via a different linker chemistry, avoiding the need to compromise with a single uniform linker chemistry for both the targeting group and payload

 

The end result of this strategy is a completely novel drug conjugate that is customized to overcome the specific obstacles in its path. This approach also provides intellectual property protection and extended patent life, via novel composition-of-matter.