Merlin Biotech Receives NIH Contract To Test MER-101 In Combination with Checkpoint Inhibitors
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — Merlin Biotech has been awarded a Phase I SBIR contract from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop MER-101 in combination with a checkpoint inhibitor for Ewing sarcoma. The $300,000 contract funds preclinical work to test whether the combination can produce stronger and more durable anti-tumor responses than either therapy alone.
A cancer that needs new options
Ewing sarcoma is a rare, aggressive cancer of the bone and soft tissue that mainly affects children, teenagers and young adults. Treatment still relies on intensive chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, an approach that has changed little in decades. Outcomes are poor when the disease has spread or returned, and survivors often live with lasting side effects from treatment. Checkpoint inhibitors, which have transformed care in several adult cancers, have shown limited benefit in Ewing sarcoma when used on their own.
Why combine MER-101 with a checkpoint inhibitor
MER-101 uses mRNA to deliver USP6, a protein that Merlin’s preclinical research links to activation of multiple anti-cancer immune pathways. In animal models, MER-101 slowed the growth of treated tumors and of distant, untreated lesions. Checkpoint inhibitors work by releasing the brakes on immune cells already positioned to attack a tumor. Ewing sarcoma tumors typically attract few of those cells. By drawing an immune response into the tumor, MER-101 is designed to give a checkpoint inhibitor something to act on.
About Merlin Biotech
Merlin Biotech is a preclinical-stage mRNA company based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Its lead program, MER-101, is a USP6-directed cancer immunotherapy in development for Ewing sarcoma and other solid tumors.
This project is funded in whole or in part with federal funds from the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of Merlin Biotech and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH. MER-101 is a preclinical therapy and has not been approved by the FDA.
