Merck & Co buys Curon candidate for up to $1.3 billion
US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) is to buy CN201, an investigational clinical-stage bispecific antibody for the treatment of B-cell associated diseases, from privately-held Chinese biotech Curon Biopharmaceutical.
Through a subsidiary, Merck will acquire full global rights to the drug candidate for an upfront payment of $700 million in cash. Curon is also eligible to receive up to $600 million in milestone payments associated with the development and regulatory approval of CN201.
Dean Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories, said: “We continue to identify opportunities to expand and diversify our pipeline.
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