Date: 2013-07-31
Type of information: R&D agreement
Compound: anticancer drugs that block the WNT signalling pathway and biomarkers
Company: Cancer Research Technology (CRT) (UK) The Institute of Cancer Research (UK) Merck Serono (Germany)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: R&D development
Action mechanism:
Disease:
Details: * On July 31 2013, Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, have signed a licensing deal extending a successful initial alliance to discover and develop anticancer drugs that block the WNT signalling pathway. The WNT pathway is key to tissue development and maintenance. Faults in the WNT pathway can leave it permanently switched on – and this is linked to the development of colorectal, breast and other cancers. An aberrantly activated WNT pathway could also play a role in establishing and maintaining cancer stem cells within tumours.
This deal grants Merck Serono the rights to develop molecules discovered through a recently-completed four-year research collaboration between Merck Serono, CRT, The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and Cardiff University. At the same time the ICR, CRT and Merck Serono are signing a new two-year major collaboration to progress the existing compounds towards candidates for clinical trials and design further molecules to target the WNT signalling pathway. The work will also involve identifying biomarkers for target inhibition and patient selection. The new drug discovery work will be carried out by scientists at the ICR in London and at Merck Serono’s headquarters in Darmstadt with some financial support from Cancer Research UK.Through these agreements Merck Serono has licensed the rights to all future intellectual property resulting from the new two-year alliance as well as to all existing intellectual property already generated through the completed four-year alliance.
Financial terms: Merck Serono will pay an upfront license fee to CRT and make further payments to CRT upon reaching development milestones. Merck Serono will also pay royalties from potential future drugs. CRT will share revenue with the ICR and Cardiff University.
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