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MERLIN BIOTECH reveals Novel Cancer Immunotherapy at Biotech Showcase™ 2023

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  • MERLIN BIOTECH reveals Novel Cancer Immunotherapy at Biotech Showcase™ 2023

Randall N. Hyer

MERLIN Biotech CEO Randall N. Hyer delivers details – and a comprehensive strategic plan – for the company’s promising mRNA technology

MERLIN Biotech, a spinout from the Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, presented its first asset last month at the 15th Annual Biotech Showcase, an investor conference focused on driving advances in biotechnology and life sciences.

“MER-101 triggers multiple anti-cancer pathways in one therapy that inhibits the growth of both the injected tumor as well as distant, non-treated lesions,” said CEO Randall N. Hyer, MD, PhD, MPH. “It’s the first of many highly innovative therapeutics we intend to develop for diseases in which few currently exist.”


Hyer, former SVP Global Medical Affairs at Moderna, was integral to the fast-tracked global rollout of the
COVID-19 vaccine using clinically-proven mRNA technology to infiltrate and activate the immune system.

“MERLIN Biotech plans to utilize the recent technological advancements to treat a wider range of diseases afflicting our global population, including life-threatening solid cancers, chronic hepatitis B, and Lyme disease,” said Hyer.

Hyer won the Startup Springboard competition in November 2022 against 11 other highly selected companies at Biotech Week Boston, one of the industry’s largest events with over 4,000 participants spanning the drug development value chain.

Offering world-renowned scientific experts and robust intellectual property in mRNA development and oncology immune-modulators, MERLIN Biotech now seeks $5 million in funding to advance and expedite the Investigational New Drug process to begin administering the novel cancer immunotherapy to humans.


Recent feedback from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has provided a clear roadmap to IND for MER101. Follow-up studies in mice will focus on extending the current data and demonstrating a robust safety and efficacy profile of treating multiple solid tumors with Ubiquitin-specific protease 6 (USP6), a naturally occurring protein that correlates with survival in multiple cancers.

As the only USP6-targeted program of its kind, MER-101 has the potential to treat the rare pediatric cancer Ewing sarcoma, as well as late-stage cancer of the pancreas, bladder, lungs, ovaries, cervix, breasts, skin, liver, and lymphoma.

For more information regarding MERLIN Biotech and its MER-101 novel cancer immunotherapy,
please contact Edward Tate at The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center: edward.tate@hepb.org

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