Merck to provide Provantage End-to-End development and manufacturing services to Y-mAbs for lead antibody compound

Includes scale-up and GMP manufacturing of drugs in late-stage development.

The antibody, targeting refractory leptomeningeal tumor neuroblastoma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, is a potential breakthrough treatment for pediatric patients. Following transfer of Y-mAbs' lead cell line to Merck, services will include scale-up and GMP manufacturing of an antibody currently in late stage clinical development.

"Pediatric brain cancer is an especially challenging therapeutic area that comes with an extreme sense of urgency," said Udit Batra, Member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. "Through our Provantage services, which offer a templated, nimble approach to development and manufacturing, we expect to accelerate progress of this innovative therapeutic for patients in need."

"Through our agreement with Merck, Y-mAbs takes a major step towards our commitment of making these breakthrough pediatric treatments available to children with advanced and life-threatening cancers,"said Thomas Gad, Y-mAbs' Founder, President and Head of Business Development and Strategy. "We expect to take delivery of cGMP drug product for our planned clinical trials by first half of 2017, and we are committed to making this leading immunotherapy product available to patients with life-threatening diseases worldwide."

Merck's Provantage End-to-End solution is a comprehensive suite of products and services enabling biopharmaceutical companies to accelerate the progression of molecules into the clinic and toward commercialization. The turnkey package includes process development, cGMP manufacturing, facility design, equipment for pilot plant production, process and equipment training, technology transfer, equipment qualification and set-up for commercialization.