The German science and technology company Merck has formed a new strategic collaboration with biopharmaceutical company F-star, Cambridge (UK), for the development and commercialisation of five bispecific immuno-oncology antibodies. As per the deal, Merck will pay F-star up to € 115 million in upfront, R&D funding and other milestone payments in the first 2 years.
Beyond these five bispecific antibodies, Merck will have further rights to replace, as well as to add to these antibodies using F-star’s bispecific antibody platform. This collaboration will give a boost to Merck’s immuno-oncology pipeline by further strengthening its efforts to discover & develop breakthrough cancer