Biocytogen Enters into Agreement with Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to Advance Antibody-Conjugated Lipid-Based Delivery Solutions

Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (Biocytogen, HKEX: 02315), a global biotechnology company that drives the research and development of novel antibody-based drugs with innovative technologies and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, have entered into an evaluation and option agreement to advance the development of antibody-conjugated lipid-based delivery solutions for nucleic acid payloads, such as antibody-conjugated lipid nanoparticle (LNP).

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Under the terms of the agreement, Biocytogen will provide proprietary, fully human antibodies derived from its RenMice^® platform for evaluation in Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s antibody-conjugated LNP services. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has been granted an exclusive option to acquire rights to selected antibody assets in return for fees and royalties on sales and sublicenses.

“We are excited to collaborate again with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to explore the potential of antibody-conjugated lipid-based delivery systems,” said Dr. Yuelei Shen, President and CEO of Biocytogen. “This collaboration highlights the versatility of our fully human antibody platforms and the broad applications of antibodies beyond traditional therapeutics. By combining our antibody discovery expertise with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany’s established capabilities in LNPs, we look forward to accelerating the development of next-generation nucleic acid delivery solutions.”

“This collaboration will strengthen Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany's position in providing LNP-based drug delivery solutions,” said Dr. Kahina Lang, Executive Director, Head of Next Gen Drug Delivery at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. “We will be able to further improve the targeting specificity with our innovative design of antibody-conjugated LNPs. Our customers will gain access to a more comprehensive portfolio of delivery service offerings."

About Biocytogen

Biocytogen (HKEX: 02315) is a global biotechnology company that drives the research and development of novel antibody-based drugs with innovative technologies. Founded on gene editing technology, Biocytogen leverages genetically engineered proprietary RenMice^® (RenMab^™/ RenLite^®/ RenNano^®/ RenTCR mimic™) platforms for fully human monoclonal/bispecific/multispecific antibody discovery, bispecific antibody-drug conjugate discovery, nanobody discovery and TCR mimic antibody discovery, and has established a sub-brand, RenBiologics™, to explore global partnerships for an off-the-shelf library of >1,000,000 fully human antibody sequences against over 1000 targets for worldwide collaboration. As of June 30, 2025, approximately 280 therapeutic antibody and multiple clinical asset co-development/out-licensing/transfer agreements and over 50 target-nominated RenMice^® licensing projects have been established around the globe, including several partnerships with multinational pharmaceutical companies (MNCs). Biocytogen pioneered the generation of drug target knock-in humanized models for preclinical research, and currently provides a few thousand off-the-shelf animal and cell models under the company's sub-brand, BioMice™, along with preclinical pharmacology and gene-editing services for clients worldwide. Headquartered in Beijing, Biocytogen has branches in China (Haimen Jiangsu, Shanghai), USA (Boston, San Francisco, San Diego), and Germany (Heidelberg). For more information, please visit https://biocytogen.com.

About Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. More than 62,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From providing products and services that accelerate drug development and manufacturing as well as discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2024, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, generated sales of € 21.2 billion in 65 countries.

The company holds the global rights to the name and trademark “Merck” internationally. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, operate as MilliporeSigma in life science, EMD Serono in healthcare and EMD Electronics in electronics. Since its founding in 1668, scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to the company’s technological and scientific advances. To this day, the founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company.

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