Merck and Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo have signed a global development and commercialisation agreement for three of the latter’s DXd antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates.
The deal includes Daiichi Sankyo’s patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd), ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd) and raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXd) candidates.
The partnership will combine Daiichi Sankyo’s ADC expertise and DXd technology with deep experience in oncology and clinical development capabilities of Merck, which is known as MSD outside of the US and Canada.
Both firms will jointly develop and possibly commercialise these ADC assets globally, except in Japan where Daiichi Sankyo will retain exclusive rights.
The Japanese pharmaceutical company will be solely responsible for the production and supply of these candidates.
Daiichi Sankyo representative director, executive chairperson and CEO Sunao Manabe said: “The promising results from clinical trials of patritumab deruxtecan, ifinatamab deruxtecan and raludotatug deruxtecan continue to demonstrate the broad applicability of Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd ADC technology across multiple targets, with each of these medicines having the potential to change clinical practice as has been already seen with Enhertu.
“As Daiichi Sankyo continues its transformation into a global oncology leader by increasingly building our infrastructure and talent, we recognise that a collaboration with Merck, a company with remarkable oncology experience and strong in-house development capabilities and resources, will help us deliver on our obligation to deliver these potential new DXd ADCs to more patients as quickly as possible.”
According to the agreement, Merck will pay Daiichi Sankyo upfront payments of $1.5bn for ifinatamab deruxtecan, $1.5bn for patritumab deruxtecan and $1.5bn for raludotatug deruxtecan.
Additionally, Merck will pay the Japanese firm up to an additional $5.5bn for each DXd ADC subject to the achievement of certain sales milestones.
The total potential consideration across the three initiatives might reach $22bn when paired with the additional $1bn refundable upfront payment.
Merck chairman and CEO Robert Davis said: “At Merck, we continue to augment and diversify our oncology pipeline while building on our immuno-oncology foundation.
“The pioneering work by Daiichi Sankyo scientists has highlighted the far-reaching potential of ADCs to provide meaningful new options for patients with cancer.
“We look forward to forging this collaboration to deliver the next generation of precision cancer medicines, driven by our mutual compassion for patients around the world.”
