Merck and Selvita form oncology partnership
pharmafile | November 2, 2015 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Merck, Selvita, collaboration, oncology
Merck has entered a three-year agreement with Selvita to validate new therapeutic concepts in the field of oncology.
The aim of the collaboration is to deliver potential first-in-class small molecules as prime candidate drugs for multiple oncology. The collaboration consists of a joint research phase up to lead identification, after which Merck will further research and develop the potential drugs on its own.
Under the terms of the new agreement, Merck will have an exclusive license to the joint intellectual property, and Selvita will receive milestone payments and royalties upon successful development and commercialisation of products by Merck.
Merck and Selvita, a Polish drug discovery firm with offices in Cambridge, UK and Boston, US, will contribute funding and resources to support the collaboration, as well as bring their expertise in target validation, bioinformatics, medicinal chemistry, in vitro and in vivo biology, and toxicology.
Andree Blaukat, head of the translational innovation platform oncology at Merck says: “We are excited about our new collaboration and to continue our productive relationship with Selvita and to build upon our collective efforts of the last two years.”
“We are making strong progress in the area of cancer metabolism, and remain focused on bringing innovative new therapeutic options to patients that have the potential to make a substantial difference in their lives.”
The collaboration will develop a joined portfolio of discovery projects, in a risk/reward sharing model between the two companies. The deal builds on a two-year partnership between Merck and Selvita in cancer metabolism, which began in 2013.
Krzysztof Brzozka, Selvita’s chief scientific officer, says: “Collaboration between Merck and Selvita is an excellent example of a successful joint drug discovery platform where both parties contribute their expertise to identify and validate novel therapeutic targets, in parallel developing new compounds and advancing them towards clinical development. This sort of deep and intensive type of collaboration is at the core of Selvita’s vision of modern drug discovery.”
Yasmita Kumar
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