Merck & Co., Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline have entered into a cross-license and settlement agreement for certain patent rights related to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

GSK will receive an upfront payment and royalties from Merck based upon sales of a HPV vaccine upon development and launch. Further financial details and terms were not disclosed. The agreement announced recently resolves competing intellectual property claims related to the Merck and GSK vaccine candidates, respectively.

Merck and GSK will continue with their own entirely independent research, development and, after appropriate regulatory reviews and approval, commercialization activities for their respective investigational HPV vaccine candidates.