Another mega $1B drug discovery deal, this one between Aria and Merck & Co
The price Big Pharma is paying to access new drug candidates seems to be accelerating. Within just one week, a second $1.0 billion drug discovery accord has been signed, this time by US drug major Merck & Co and Massachusetts-based Ariad Pharmaceuticals. It follows on Roche's announcement of a mega accord for RNAi therapeutics with US firm Alnylam (Marketletter July 16).
Merck and Ariad have entered into a global collaboration to jointly develop and commercialize AP23573, the latter's novel mTOR inhibitor, for use in cancer. It is expected that AP23573 will enter into Phase III clinical development for the treatment of metastatic sarcomas beginning this quarter.
Terms of the deal
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