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6 February 2019Americas

GSK and Merck KGaA unite in €3.7bn immunotherapy deal

UK headquartered GSK has made another move in the oncology space, signing a potential €3.7 billion ($3.3 billion) immunotherapy deal with Germany-based Merck KGaA.

Announced yesterday, February 5, the alliance between the two companies will focus on developing and commercialising M7824, a novel immunotherapy with the potential to target multiple difficult-to-treat cancers.

To begin with, GSK will pay Merck €300 million to secure rights to the “investigational bifunctional fusion protein” immunotherapy, which is currently in clinical development.

Merck is eligible for potential development milestone payments of up to €500 million, related to a lung cancer programme, and €2.9 billion in additional development and commercial milestones.

The immunotherapy is designed to target two immuno-suppressive pathways, transforming growth factor-β trap and an anti-programmed cell death ligand-1, which are commonly used by cancer cells to evade the immune system.

For GSK, the alliance is further step in the company’s strategy to strengthen its pharmaceuticals pipeline.

In December last year, GSK  announced plans to buy US oncology company Tesaro for $5.1 billion (£4 billion), in a move designed to boost its anti-cancer offering.

Hal Barron, chief scientific officer and president of research and development at GSK, said: “Despite recent medical advances, many patients with difficult-to-treat cancers don’t currently benefit from immuno-oncology therapies leaving them with limited treatment options.”

Barron added that he was excited by the potential impact M7824 could have on the lives of cancer patients.

Belén Garijo, member of the executive board and CEO of healthcare at Merck KGaA, said: “Together with GSK we aim to drive a paradigm shift in the treatment of cancer as the leader in this novel class of immunotherapies.”

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More on this story

Asia-Pacific
26 April 2018   China’s State Intellectual Property Office has granted Merck KGaA a patent covering its CRISPR technology used in a genomic-integration method for eukaryotic cells.
Americas
3 December 2018   GSK has agreed to buy US oncology company Tesaro for $5.1 billion, in a move designed to strengthen its anti-cancer offering.

More on this story

Asia-Pacific
26 April 2018   China’s State Intellectual Property Office has granted Merck KGaA a patent covering its CRISPR technology used in a genomic-integration method for eukaryotic cells.
Americas
3 December 2018   GSK has agreed to buy US oncology company Tesaro for $5.1 billion, in a move designed to strengthen its anti-cancer offering.