Merck partners with King’s College London to develop painkillers
King’s College London (KCL) has entered a licensing and collaboration agreement with US pharmaceutical company Merck & Co to develop new chronic pain medications.
In an announcement on March 8, KCL said the deal includes biomedical research charity Wellcome Trust, which has helped fund KCL’s development of the medication since 2012.
Under the agreement, KCL and Wellcome are eligible to receive up to $340 million (£263 million) in development and sales milestones, as well as royalties if a drug comes to market.
KCL said new medications for managing chronic pain were “urgently needed” because current options were only effective at relieving short-term pain. When using these to treat chronic pain, there is a risk of side-effects as higher doses are required.
One example of this pain is chronic neuropathic pain, which is caused by nerve damage from traumatic injury or illness. Currently, there is no effective treatment.
KCL said the deal was made possible because of discoveries made by a professor at its Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Peter McNaughton.
McNaughton’s work had uncovered a “fundamental biological mechanism underlying neuropathic pain”, said the university. This builds on his 2001 discovery, while at the University of Cambridge, that identified the importance of the protein HCN2 in chronic pain.
HCN2 can cause a continuous sensation of pain through the initiation of electrical signals in pain-sensitive nerve fibres. According to KCL, blocking the activity of HCN2 in animal models can deliver effective pain relief without side effects.
Merck & Co will be responsible for conducting lead optimisation, preclinical development and clinical trials. It will also provide funding to the McNaughton lab for further research on the biological mechanisms of pain.
McNaughton said by targeting the molecular causes of pain, KCL has developed new molecules that it believes can avoid the major side-effects that come with current painkillers.
Professor Sir Robert Lechler, executive director of KCL’s Health Partners said the deal with Merck & Co gives KCL’s research the “best chance of being translated into medications that will have a real impact on patients’ lives”.
Lechler said: “We are particularly pleased that King’s researchers will continue to collaborate with Merck & Co on developing solutions for chronic pain, an area of huge unmet clinical need.”
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