Shasun Chemicals & Drugs Ltd has announced that the company has entered into a non-exclusive licensing agreement with Merck & Co., Inc.

Under the terms of the agreement Shasun grants Merck the use of its proprietary cross-coupling copper technology (also known as Buchwald technology) to manufacture and commercialize API's (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients). The Buchwald cross-coupling technology is one of the most popular technologies in the pharmaceutical area allowing increasingly complex new drugs to be manufactured in an efficient and economical way, a company release stated.

Commenting on this development, Dr. Michel Spagnol (Chief Technology Officer) said, "I am very excited to have finalized this agreement with Merck. This is an important milestone for Shasun in making this technology widely accessible and paving the way for further collaborations".

Govindarajan (CEO and managing director of Shasun) added "This is yet another example that demonstrates Shasun's commitment to developing and commercializing its expanding portfolio of cutting edge technologies".