Cambrex Manufacturing Merrimack Pharmaceuticals MM-093

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., May 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cambrex Corporation is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Cambrex Bio Science Hopkinton, Inc. has entered a contract for the production of clinical trial quantities of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals' ("Merrimack") lead product MM-093, a recombinant version of human alpha-fetoprotein (hAFP). The material is expected to be used in Merrimack's ongoing research to assess the potential of MM-093 to treat multiple autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and others.

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Merrimack Pharmaceuticals is currently conducting Phase 2 trials of MM-093 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or with psoriasis. MM-093 is a recombinant version of hAFP; an immunomodulatory serum protein normally produced at very high levels by a fetus but present in lower levels in the blood of adults and children. The presence of hAFP in a pregnant mother's blood has long been associated with remission of many autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and multiple sclerosis during the third trimester of pregnancy.

Cambrex has completed several batches of MM-093 and is in the process of completing the production run. Cambrex is a leading contract manufacturer in North America with extensive experience in the downstream purification of proteins expressed in goat milk.

"We believe that the quality manufacturing expertise that Cambrex offers will help us to efficiently and effectively move our lead product, MM-093, to commercialization," said Fazal Khan, Vice President of Manufacturing at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals.

"Our experience with the purification of proteins from transgenic milk was certainly an advantage in successfully manufacturing Merrimack's MM-093," commented Anthony Rotunno, Vice President and General Manager, Cambrex Bio Science Hopkinton, Inc. "We were honored that Merrimack placed the cGMP manufacture of their lead product in our hands as they progress MM-093 into future clinical trials."

About Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of novel treatments for diseases in the areas of autoimmune disease and cancer. Its lead compound, MM-093, is currently in clinical development to treat patients with rheumatoid arthritis or with psoriasis. MM-093 is an investigational drug and has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any international regulatory agency. The Company's proprietary Network Biology discovery platform, developed in concert with leading scientists from MIT and Harvard, enables the high throughput profiling of protein networks as a basis for improved validation, lead identification and speed in the development of innovative, effective and safe therapeutics. For additional information, please visit http://www.merrimackpharma.com/.

About Cambrex

Cambrex is a global, diversified life sciences company dedicated to providing products and services to accelerate and improve the discovery and commercialization of human therapeutics. The Company employs approximately 2000 worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.cambrex.com/.