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Print Edition StoriesThursday, October 1, 2009
Merrimack Pharma to land up to $530M from Sanofi-aventis deal
By Mass High Tech staff
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Cambridge-based Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. and sanofi-aventis, of France, have signed a worldwide licensing deal related to the former’s human monoclonal antibody, MM-121. With sanofi-aventis licensed to develop and co-commercialize MM-121, Merrimack stands to receive up to $530 million stemming from a $60 upfront payment and $470 million from milestone payments and royalties.
MM-121 is a human monoclonal antibody designed to block signaling of the particular receptor that plays a critical role in cancer signaling. It is the company’s first oncology product, officials said, and is the first selective antagonist for that receptor — ErbB3 — to enter human clinical development. According to Merrimack officials, targeting ErbB3 may enable researchers to use MM-121 as an anti-cancer treatment.
As part of the agreement, Merrimack will be responsible for moving MM-121 through Phase 2 studies; Sanofi-aventis will pick up the development following the studies.
Merrimack says its biologic drug discovery technology, invented by scientists from MIT and Harvard University, rapidly identifies proteins to improve validation.
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