Merck & Co Inc and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated have entered into a global collaboration to develop and commercialize VX-680, Vertex's lead Aurora kinase inhibitor that is expected to enter clinical development this year for the treatment of cancer, a release from Vertex pharma said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Vertex will receive a $20 million up-front payment and an additional $14 million in research funding over the next two years. In addition, Vertex could receive as much as $350 million in milestone payments, including $130 million for the successful development of VX-680 in the first oncology indication and additional milestone payments for development of VX-680 and follow-on compounds in subsequent major oncology indications. Merck will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of VX-680 worldwide and will pay Vertex royalties on product sales.
In addition, the companies will conduct a joint research programme to characterize VX-680's activity across a broad range of cancer types as well as to identify follow-on drug candidates directed at Aurora kinases, using molecular profiling approaches and micro-array technologies pioneered by Merck.
Merck will fund research conducted jointly by the two companies, and lead the clinical development of VX-680 and any subsequent compounds selected from the joint research programme, with development input from Vertex. Vertex will have an opportunity to negotiate a co-promotion agreement with Merck prior to commercialization. In addition, Vertex could earn additional milestone payments for the development of Aurora kinase inhibitors outside the area of oncology.
An investigational new drug application (IND) for VX-680 has been filed by Vertex with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support clinical development in the United States. Merck and Vertex expect phase I clinical studies of VX-680 to begin by the end of 2004.
"We are pleased to enter this collaboration with Merck, which shares our vision of Aurora kinase inhibitors as a class of drugs that may have the potential to transform the future of cancer treatment," said Joshua Boger, chairman and CEO of Vertex. "This agreement places a significant value on our innovations in the area of Aurora kinases and cancer, and highlights Vertex's progress in realizing our 2004 business development and collaborative revenue objectives," Boger added.
"Oncology represents a key area of focus for Merck going forward, and this collaboration is consistent with Merck's strategy to develop external alliances that complement our substantial internal research efforts," said Dr. Peter S Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories.
Aurora kinases are implicated in the onset and progression of many different human cancers, and novel Aurora kinase inhibitors such as VX-680 have the potential to play an important future role in the treatment and management of a wide range of tumour types. Preclinical results for VX-680 reported by Vertex scientists in early 2004 demonstrated for the first time that a compound targeting the Aurora mechanism could induce tumour regression in human models of solid tumour cancers.