Vical Incorporated announced that Merck & Co. Inc and Vical have amended their existing license agreement. Under the amended agreement, Merck has obtained an option license for rights to use Vical's patented non-viral gene delivery technology for three cancer targets. Exercise of the option license for each oncology target would result in an option license fee payment to Vical, and further development may lead to milestone and royalty payments to Vical.

In addition, Vical has expanded its infectious disease portfolio by re-acquiring the rights to apply its core vaccine technology for influenza, herpes simplex virus (HSV), and human papilloma virus (HPV) previously licensed to Merck. Merck will retain rights to use the technology for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV).

"We are excited with Merck's potential application of our technology in the oncology field in addition to their ongoing efforts with infectious disease vaccines," said Vijay B. Samant, Vical's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Each of the reacquired targets offers us significant opportunities for commercial development of vaccines leveraging our core technology. We are particularly pleased to regain rights to develop a vaccine for influenza, especially for the elderly, for whom improved effectiveness of vaccines is needed."