CAMBRIDGE - Mersana Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRSN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing a pipeline of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting cancers in areas of high unmet medical need, today provided a pipeline update and announced its strategic priorities and anticipated milestones for 2020.

Anna Protopapas, President and CEO of Mersana Therapeutics, will review these business updates in a presentation at the upcoming 38th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Thursday, January 16, 2020.

'XMT-1536, a first-in-class NaPi2b-targeting Dolaflexin ADC, is nearing proof of concept and we expect to report important data from both the dose escalation and expansion portions of the study throughout 2020,' said Anna Protopapas. 'XMT-1536 has shown confirmed responses and durable stable disease in biomarker unselected and heavily pretreated patients. XMT-1536 continues to be both active and well-tolerated at higher doses, and we have increased the dose in both the expansion and dose escalation portions of the study.'

'We have also made significant progress in leveraging our differentiated ADC platforms to build an exciting pipeline of candidates. XMT-1592, a NaPi2b-targeted ADC based on our new Dolasynthen platform, aims to extend our leadership in NaPi2b-directed therapies while also clinically validating the differentiated profile that our Dolasynthen platform has shown preclinically,' continued Anna Protopapas. 'In addition, we are advancing a first-in-class ADC candidate targeting B7-H4, an antigen with a unique expression profile in the tumor and its microenvironment. Finally, we have developed a STING agonist ADC platform, Immunosynthen, with encouraging preclinical efficacy and tolerability data across multiple targets and anticipate selection of a development candidate later this year. 2020 has the potential to be a transformational year for Mersana as we progress in our efforts to develop novel therapeutics for patients with high unmet need.'

About Mersana Therapeutics

Mersana Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using its differentiated and proprietary ADC platforms to rapidly develop novel ADCs with optimal efficacy, safety and tolerability to meaningfully improve the lives of people fighting cancer. Mersana's lead product candidate, XMT-1536, is in a Phase 1 proof-of-concept clinical trial in patients with tumors expressing NaPi2b, including ovarian cancer and NSCLC adenocarcinoma. Mersana's second product candidate targeting NaPi2b-expressing tumors, XMT-1592, is an ADC created using Mersana's customizable and homogenous Dolasynthen platform. The Company's early stage programs include a B7-H4 targeting ADC, as well as a STING agonist ADC developed using the Company's Immunosynthen platform. In addition, multiple partners are using Mersana's platforms to advance their ADC pipelines.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains 'forward-looking' statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements are not statements of historical facts and are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements include information concerning the Company's business strategy and the design, progression and timing of its clinical trials. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by terms such as 'aims,' 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'could,' 'expects,' 'seeks,' 'estimates,' 'intends,' 'may,' 'plans,' 'potential,' 'predicts,' 'projects,' 'should,' 'will,' 'would' or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. Forward-looking statements represent management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date of this press release. The Company's operations involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside its control, and any one of which, or combination of which, could materially affect its results of operations and whether the forward-looking statements ultimately prove to be correct. Factors that may materially affect the Company's results of operations and whether these forward-looking statements prove to be correct include, among other things, that preclinical testing may not be predictive of the results or success of ongoing or later preclinical or clinical trials, that the development and testing of the Company's product candidates and new platforms will take longer and/or cost more than planned and that the identification of new product candidates will take longer than planned, as well as those listed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 8, 2019, with the Securities and Exchange Commission ('SEC') and subsequent SEC filings. Except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements publicly, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.

Contact:

Sarah Carmody

Tel: 617-844-8577

Email: scarmody@mersana.com

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