Merck KGaA and Idera to collaborate on cancer agonists
21 December 2007 00:00 in Pharmaceutical Company Restructures
Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, and Idera Pharmaceuticals have agreed to collaborate in the research, development and commercialisation of Idera's Toll-like Receptor 9 (TLR9).
The agreement sees Idera exclusively license the therapeutic applications of the agonists excluding their use with cancer vaccines and the lead agonists IMO-2055 and IMO-2125.
Both Merck and Idera will also work in partnership to undertake research to identify a specified number of new follow-on TLR9 agonists which will be derived using Idera's chemistry-based approach.
However, Merck will have the exclusive rights to use any new agonists in oncology applications other than cancer vaccines.
Vincent Aurentz, head of portfolio management and business development for Merck Serono, emphasised the company's commitment to developing innovative approaches to cancer therapy.
"We believe that TLR9 agonists represent a novel mechanism of action with great potential and we look forward to advancing their development for various oncology indications," he added.
Idera is to receive an upfront licence fee of $40 million (19 million pounds) from Merck as well being eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $381 million subject to the successful development and commercialisation of the agonists.
Also this week, Merck Serono and Flamel Technologies have confirmed they are to collaborate in the development of Flamel's Medusa technology.
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