Daiichi Sankyo is paying Merck $170 million upfront to snag joint development and commercialization rights to a Phase 1/2 T cell engager that the New Jersey pharma giant got in its Harpoon acquisition earlier this year.
The pact, disclosed Tuesday morning, adds on to the duo’s existing relationship, which includes three antibody-drug conjugates in one of the largest tie-ups of its kind. The lead ADC in that deal, disclosed during last year’s European Society for Medical Oncology, was rejected by the FDA in June.
Merck and Daiichi will now also jointly develop and commercialize MK-6070 worldwide, but Merck will keep the exclusive rights in Japan, where Daiichi is based. Merck will handle the manufacturing and supply of the experimental drug, and the two will share R&D and commercialization expenses. They’ll also share profits, save for those in Japan, if the medicine receives regulatory approval.
MK-6070 is a DLL3-targeting T cell engager, and it’s currently in Phase 1/2 testing as a monotherapy and in combination with Roche’s PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq. The FDA gave accelerated approval to Imdelltra, Amgen’s medicine in the class, earlier this summer for small cell lung cancer, or SCLC.
Dean Li“Small cell lung cancer is an aggressive, fast-growing form of lung cancer and new treatment approaches are urgently needed,” said Dean Li, president of MSD Research Laboratories, in a statement.
The pair said they plan to test the “tri-specific” T cell engager in combination with their partnered B7-H3 targeting ifinatamab deruxtecan in certain patients with SCLC. They’ll also consider other combinations, according to Tuesday’s announcement.
Merck and Daiichi said Tuesday’s deal “has also satisfied a contingent quid obligation from the original collaboration agreement” that they disclosed last October.