Merck, a leading science and technology company, has entered into a three-year collaboration to validate new therapeutic concepts in the field of oncology with Polish firm Selvita. The aim of the collaboration is to deliver potential first-in-class small molecules as lead candidate drugs for multiple oncology indications. Both companies will contribute funding and resources to support the collaboration, as well as bring their expertise in target validation, bioinformatics, medicinal chemistry, in vitro and in vivo biology, and toxicology.
This collaboration will steer a joined portfolio of discovery projects in a risk/reward sharing model and builds on the framework that the two companies have developed during a two-year partnership in cancer metabolism, which began in 2013.
Under the terms of the new agreement, Merck will have an exclusive license to the joint intellectual property and Selvita will receive milestone payments and royalties upon successful development and commercialisation of products by Merck. The collaboration consists of a joint research phase up to lead identification, after which Merck will further research and develop the projects on its own.
Selvita is a drug discovery company engaged in the research and development of breakthrough therapies in the area of oncology, as well as provision of integrated drug discovery services. Selvita was established and 2007 and currently employs over 280 people with extensive experience in area of life sciences.