Merck & Aurora Enter Collaborative Deal

Merck & Co and Aurora Biosciences Corp have entered into acollaborative research and licensing agreement, which will give Merck access to the latter's assay technologies, as well as its ultra-high-throughput screening systems and development services.

Under the agreement, Aurora will receive up to $33 million in committed research funding, license fees and delivery payments. This total could exceed $100 million if Merck exercises certain options and is successful in identifying and developing products using said technologies.

Timothy Rink, Aurora's chief executive, noted that the deal was the company's largest to date, and was particularly significant given the extensive scope of the agreement. In addition to the Merck agreement, Aurora has entered into collaborations with Warner-Lambert, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Roche, Sequana Therapeutics and Allelix Biopharmaceuticals.