Merck & Co enters five-year partnership with NGM Biopharmaceuticals
Makes an upfront payment of US$94m and will buy a 15% stake in NGM for $106m
Merck & Co has entered into a five-year collaboration with NGM Biopharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotechnology company, to research and develop drugs that treat diabetes and obesity.
Merck will pay NGM US$94m and buy a 15% stake in the company for $106m.
Merck will commit up to $250m to fund NGM, with the potential for additional funding.
The collaboration includes NGM drug candidates that are in preclinical development, including NP201, which is being evaluated for the treatment of diabetes, obesity and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
NGM will lead the research, while Merck will have the option to license the resulting programmes and lead global product development and commercialisation.
Roger Perlmutter, President of Merck Research Laboratories, said the collaboration would apply Merck's ‘well-established translational capabilities’ to NGM’s research into innovative biologics to treat diabetes, metabolic dysregulation, and malignancy.
William Rieflin, Chief Executive of NGM, said the deal would be ‘transformational for NGM, providing us with the resources and flexibility to pursue our ambitious research and development goals while preserving our unique drug discovery culture.’
Prior to Merck initiating a Phase III study for a licensed programme, NGM could either receive milestone and royalty payments or choose to co-fund development and share up to 50% of revenue.
