Italian research organisation extends collaboration with Merck & Co
Italy-based research organisation IRBM has signed a new agreement with Merck & Co in the peptides therapeutics area, extending the parties’ long-standing collaboration.
Yesterday, September 4, IRBM, which has collaborated with Merck & Co—known as Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside the US and Canada—since 2010, announced the agreement.
For this project, IRBM will use its expertise in “phage display peptide library design and screening and in chemical peptide synthesis and optimisation to identify potential peptide leads for a specific Merck & Co target”.
IRBM noted that over the past 15 years, the pharmaceutical industry has made significant investments into peptide-based therapeutic candidates for different therapeutic areas.
Over the last decade there have been a number of technological advancements and, now, characteristics that were previously considered a liability for peptides, such as stability and solubility, are no longer “considered insurmountable obstacles”, said IRBM.
Carlo Toniatti, chief scientific officer at the organisation, said it was thrilled to collaborate as part of its mission to “advance impactful agents into the clinic”.
Emma Parmee, vice president of global discovery chemistry of MSD, added: “At MSD, evaluating the potential of peptide-based therapeutic candidates is a key part of our discovery strategy.”
In July last year, Merck & Co entered into an oncology collaboration with AstraZeneca under which the companies will co-develop AstraZeneca’s Lynparza (olaparib), a treatment for multiple cancers.
Merck & Co boosted its expertise in immunotherapy in November last year, after signing a research collaboration and licence agreement with Cue Biopharma.
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