Merck & Co donates antimalarial candidate to MMV

US drug major Merck & Co has entered a licensing agreement for an investigational drug candidate for the treatment of malaria in the  developing world with Medicines for Malaria Venture, a not-for-profit  virtual R&D organization dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria.

Under terms of the deal, Merck, whose researchers discovered the  candidate, has granted MMV an exclusive, royalty-free license to pursue  development of the investigational candidate for the treatment of  malaria in endemic countries. However, it retains the option to become  MMV's development partner on completion of the first Phase II clinical  trial of the candidate. Also within the accord, Merck has committed to  not ultimately profiting from its use in developing countries.

"There remains a significant need for the development of novel drugs to  treat and prevent life-threatening malaria infections due to the  increasing emergence of resistance to current therapies. It is also  important that these new drugs are cost-effective and curative after  only a few days of therapy," said Dennis Schmatz, vice president Merck  Research Laboratories. "By partnering with MMV on this project we hope  to accelerate the clinical development of this promising candidate to  hopefully meet these needs," he added.