Merck & Co., Inc. and Idera Pharmaceuticals Sign Collaboration Agreement Incorporating Idera's Toll-like Receptor Agonists in Me
11 Décembre 2006 - 2:00PM
Business Wire
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) and Idera Pharmaceuticals (AMEX:
IDP) announced today that they have formed a broad collaboration to
research, develop and commercialize Idera�s Toll-like Receptor
(TLR) agonists by incorporating them in therapeutic and
prophylactic vaccines being developed by Merck for oncology,
infectious diseases and Alzheimer�s disease. �Our collaboration
with Idera is part of Merck�s long-standing commitment to research
and develop novel vaccines and medicines that can improve human
health," said Peter S. Kim, Ph.D., president, Merck Research
Laboratories. �We believe that vaccines combined with TLR-targeted
compounds offer great promise in treating and preventing serious
diseases, and look forward to integrating Idera�s TLR agonists into
our vaccine development programs.� Under the terms of the
agreement, Merck will receive worldwide exclusive rights to a
number of Idera�s agonist compounds targeting TLR 7, 8 and 9 for
use in combination with Merck�s therapeutic and prophylactic
vaccines under development for oncology, infectious diseases and
Alzheimer�s disease. Merck and Idera will engage in a two-year
research and development collaboration to generate novel agonists
targeting TLR 7 and TLR 8 and incorporating both Merck and Idera
chemistry for use in the licensed fields. Merck has agreed to pay
an upfront license fee of $20 million to Idera and to purchase $10
million of its common stock at $5.50 per share. In addition, Merck
will fund the research and development collaboration. Idera is
eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $165 million if
vaccines are successfully developed in each of the three fields.
Additional milestones of up to $260 million would be payable for
follow-on indications in the oncology field and the successful
development of additional vaccines containing Idera's TLR agonists.
There is no limit to the number of vaccines to which Merck can
apply Idera's agonists within the licensed fields. In addition,
Idera will receive royalties on products commercialized under the
collaboration. �We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Merck,
a global pharmaceutical leader with a reputation for innovative
research," said Sudhir Agrawal, D. Phil., chief executive officer
and chief scientific officer of Idera. "This agreement enables
Idera to increase the potential of our TLR 7, 8 and 9 targeted
compounds in the field of therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines.
Furthermore, we look forward to working closely with Merck�s
world-class chemists to expand our portfolio of novel TLR 7 and TLR
8 agonist compounds.� �TLRs are critical mediators of the human
immune response. We believe a chemistry-based approach may be an
efficient way to harness the activity of TLRs to train the immune
system to recognize antigens, thereby potentially enhancing the
effect of vaccines,� said Stephen H. Friend, M.D., Ph.D., executive
vice president of Advanced Technologies and Oncology at Merck. �We
are pleased to collaborate with Idera, which has established a
robust TLR-based discovery platform that is synergistic with our
internal chemistry programs and has yielded an extensive portfolio
of TLR agonist compounds that can be applied across our multiple
areas of interest for new vaccine development.� About TLRs
Toll-like Receptors (TLR) function in human immune cells as the
sensors of pathogens. They recognize different microbial products
present in pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and parasites, and
mount an appropriate immune response against the foreign invaders.
TLRs have become attractive targets for developing immune
modulators to treat a number of diseases, including cancer, asthma,
allergies, and infectious diseases. About Idera Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a drug discovery and
development company that is developing drug candidates to treat
cancer and infectious, respiratory, and autoimmune diseases, and
for use in combination with therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines.
Idera�s proprietary drug candidates are designed to modulate
Toll-like Receptors, the body�s first line of immune defense.
Idera�s pioneering DNA chemistry expertise enables it to identify
drug candidates for internal development and creates opportunities
for multiple collaborative alliances. For more information, visit
www.iderapharma.com. Idera Forward Looking Statement This press
release contains forward-looking statements concerning Idera
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. For this purpose, any statements contained herein
that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be
forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the
words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "estimates,"
"intends," "should," "could," "will," "may," and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.
There are a number of important factors that could cause Idera�s
actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements, including whether the collaboration
with Merck will be successful and whether the Company will receive
any of the milestones provided for under the collaboration; whether
products based on Idera�s technology will advance into or through
the clinical trial process on a timely basis or at all and receive
approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or
equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; whether, if the Company�s
products receive approval, they will be successfully distributed
and marketed; whether Idera�s cash resources will be sufficient to
fund product development and clinical trials; and such other
important factors as are set forth under the caption "Risk Factors"
in Idera�s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 13,
2006, which important factors are incorporated herein by reference.
Idera disclaims any intention or obligation to update any
forward-looking statements. About Merck & Co., Inc. Merck &
Co., Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company
dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck
currently discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines
and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company devotes
extensive efforts to increase access to medicines through
far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines but help
deliver them to the people who need them. Merck also publishes
unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service. For more
information, visit: www.merck.com. Merck Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements are based on management's current
expectations and involve risks and uncertainties, which may cause
results to differ materially from those set forth in the
statements. The forward-looking statements may include statements
regarding product development, product potential or financial
performance. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and
actual results may differ materially from those projected. Merck
undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events,
or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this press release
should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that
affect Merck's business, particularly those mentioned in the
cautionary statements in Item 1 of Merck's Form 10-K for the year
ended Dec. 31, 2005, and in its periodic reports on Form 10-Q and
Form 8-K, which the company incorporates by reference.
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