Merck Serono links up with MMV to develop antimalarial
Allows Merck Serono to continue to focus on developing therapies for neglected tropical diseases
Merck Serono has signed an agreement to obtain the rights to the investigational antimalarial compound DDD107498 from the Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV).
The company, which is the biopharmaceutical business of German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA, aims to run a clinical programme to demonstrate whether the investigational compound exerts activity on a number of malaria parasite lifecycle stages, and remains active in the body long enough to offer potential as a single-dose therapy against the most severe strains of malaria.
No financial details have been revealed.
Merck Serono will be responsible for the development and commercialisation of the compound, while MMV will provide expertise and provide access to its public and private sector networks in malaria-endemic countries.
According to the World Health Organization, there were an estimated 198 million cases of malaria worldwide in 2013, and an estimated 584,000 deaths, primarily in young children from the developing world.
