Merck is making its fourth acquisition of the year, this time buying a single asset from a Shanghai-based cancer drug developer.
The New Jersey pharma giant said Friday it is dishing out $700 million upfront in cash to get access to Curon Biopharmaceutical’s CD3 x CD19 bispecific antibody that it said could be applied in B cell malignancies and autoimmune diseases. Merck could dole out another $600 million in biobucks.
Dean LiThe antibody, dubbed CN201, is in Phase 1 and Phase 1b/2 studies for relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and relapsed or refractory B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), respectively. Other drugmakers have developed CD3xCD19 bispecifics, including Amgen’s Blincyto.
“Early clinical data have provided robust evidence for the potential of CN201 to target and deplete circulating and tissue B cells with the potential to treat a range of malignant and autoimmune diseases,” Merck Research Laboratories President Dean Li said in a statement.
The company is looking to diversify its oncology pipeline, which is dominated by the world’s top-selling drug, the immunotherapy known as Keytruda.
Rob Davis“I can tell you at Merck, we’re not out there saying, ‘Let’s find the next Keytruda,’” Merck CEO Rob Davis said at a PhRMA event on the sidelines of the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference on May 31. “That was lightning in a bottle. Thank God we found it. The benefit it is having for cancer patients is phenomenal, but it is not a repeatable model.”
Merck’s other deals this year include a tiny antibody-drug conjugate biotech named Abceutics, ophthalmology drug developer EyeBio and T cell engager Harpoon Therapeutics. Earlier this week, Merck said it will jointly develop the lead Harpoon asset with Daiichi Sankyo.
Curon also develops ADCs, according to its bio. But Merck has already spent billions in recent years on building out its own ADC pipeline through partnerships with Daiichi, Kelun and others. It also has a burgeoning internal pipeline for the class, which has become one of the industry’s hottest pockets of R&D.
The startup launched with $150 million in 2018. Based in Shanghai, it also operates in Hong Kong and Australia.