– NETHERLANDS, Ultrech / USA, MA – Merus N.V. (Nasdaq: MRUS), a clinical-stage company developing innovative, full-length bispecific antibodies, today announced that Dr. Ton Logtenberg will step down as CEO, President, Principal Financial Officer and Director of the Company on December 31, 2019. The Merus Board of Directors has nominated Dr. Bill Lundberg, currently a non-executive director on the Merus board, to succeed Dr. Logtenberg as CEO, President and Principal Financial Officer of Merus. Dr. Logtenberg will remain on as a senior advisor for Merus during the transition over the next year.
“As founder, CEO and President of Merus, it has been a great privilege to lead the Company for the past 16 years,” said Dr. Ton Logtenberg. “Together, we transformed a vision for a best-in-class bispecific antibody technology into a global, clinical-stage biotechnology company. I am incredibly proud of the team and our accomplishments, and I am also exceedingly optimistic about what the future holds for Merus. It has been an honor to serve Merus in its mission to deliver innovative therapeutics to patients with life-threatening diseases, and I am delighted to have Bill take the helm as CEO and President, and continue to further our shared vision and goals.”
Dr. Bill Lundberg joined Merus’ Board of Directors in June 2019, and he brings more than 15 years of experience managing and leading biotechnology research and development along with a background as a medical oncologist. He has extensive experience across all aspects and phases of drug development in both academic and industry settings. Most recently, Dr. Lundberg served as Chief Scientific Officer at CRISPR Therapeutics and as Head of Translational Medicine at Alexion Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Russell Greig, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stated, “On behalf of the entire Company and the Board of Directors, I would like to extend our sincerest appreciation to Ton for his unwavering inspirational leadership and dedication. Under his direction, Merus has transformed from what began with a vision of developing novel antibody therapeutics into a leading multispecific antibody company with four promising candidates in clinical development today. Ton’s strong belief in science and technology as the basis for the discovery of innovative medicines has provided the company with a unique platform for a steady pipeline of differentiated drug candidates for patients with unmet medical needs.”
Dr. Greig continued, “We are excited to announce the appointment of Bill Lundberg as Merus’ new CEO and President. Bill is a proven industry leader with broad-based expertise in drug development. As a current Merus Board member, he brings continuity, as well as a strong mix of skills and qualities needed to lead the Company. We are confident Dr. Lundberg will continue the Company’s impressive progress as Merus enters its next phase of growth.”
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead Merus during this exciting time for the organization,” said Dr. Lundberg. “I look forward to working closely with Ton and the Merus team to build on the momentum of the Company’s successes, including recent clinical proof of concept data for zenocutuzumab in patients with solid tumors harboring NRG1 fusions, advancing our current programs through the clinic and accelerating our leading multispecific antibody platforms to further expand a pipeline of highly innovative medicines to patients in need.”
About Bill Lundberg, M.D.
Dr. Bill Lundberg most recently served as Chief Scientific Officer at CRISPR Therapeutics, establishing the company in Cambridge, Mass., and leading the development of the company’s first clinical trial application. Previously, he served as Head of Translational Medicine at Alexion Pharmaceuticals and Chief Medical Officer of Taligen Therapeutics. He also held roles of increasing responsibility in clinical drug development and medical affairs at Xanthus/Anthsoma, Wyeth and Genzyme. Dr. Lundberg received an MD from Stanford University, an MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a BS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed post-doctoral training at the Whitehead Institute/MIT, and clinical training in Medicine and Medical Oncology from Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
About Merus N.V.
Merus is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing innovative full-length human bispecific antibody therapeutics, referred to as Biclonics. Biclonics are manufactured using industry standard processes and have been observed in preclinical and clinical studies to have several of the same features of conventional human monoclonal antibodies, such as long half-life and low immunogenicity.
For more information: https://merus.nl
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