Merck Serono And MorphoSys Enter Into Immuno-Oncology Partnership
Merck Serono and MorphoSys announced that the companies have entered into collaboration to discover and develop therapeutic antibodies against immune checkpoints, which were not disclosed.
As part of the agreement, MorphoSys will use its proprietary Ylanthia antibody phage library and technology platform to determine antibodies against the targets of interest to the collaboration. Merck Serono, Merck’s biopharmaceutical division, will be fully responsible for development starting from Phase I of the program. The company currently has several immuno-oncology pipeline assets under investigation in clinical trials from Phase I to III for treatment of different cancers. Merck Serono is currently focusing on its pre-clinical pipeline in three Innovation Clusters comprising therapeutic cancer vaccines, cancer stem cells, and tumor immunotolerance.
Dr. Helen Sabzevari, Senior VP of Immuno-Oncology at Merck Serono, said, “Combining Merck Serono’s extensive expertise in immuno-oncology with MorphoSys’ next-generation antibody technology provides us with an exciting opportunity to rapidly generate novel therapies with a clear potential to benefit cancer patients.” Dr. Sabzevari said the collaboration supports the expansion of the company’s immuno-oncology portfolio.
Dr. Simon Moroney, CEO of MorphoSys, said Merck’s strengths complement Morphosys’ expertise. “Therapeutic agents in the immuno-oncology field are set to transform cancer therapy, and we are delighted to work with Merck Serono in this area. We believe that our Ylanthia technology has the potential to provide truly differentiated antibodies against the targets that will be the subject of the collaboration.”
MorphoSys will jointly fund costs for research and development and will gain the option to discontinue the partnership at pre-defined stages. The company will be eligible for development and commercial milestone payments. Furthermore, MorphoSys will be eligible to tiered royalties on product sales based on the extent of its funding. Merck Serono will be responsible for commercialization of any resulting treatments.
No further financial terms of the agreement were disclosed by either company.