Cambridge Antibody Technology Announces Product Development Alliance With Merck & Co., Inc.
MELBOURN, England, Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ --
Cambridge Antibody Technology (Nasdaq: CATG; LSE: CAT) announces today that it has entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK - news) for the research and development of products specific for a key target involved in disease mediated by HIV.
Under the terms of the five-year agreement, Merck will provide proprietary technology and experience in HIV biology and CAT will provide its proprietary human phage antibody libraries. Merck receives exclusive rights to prophylactic and therapeutic products developed in collaboration with CAT against the specified viral target. CAT will receive an upfront technology access fee from Merck, clinical development milestones and royalties on the sale of products based on both human monoclonal antibodies and on non-antibody products validated using the CAT technology.
Dr. David Chiswell, CEO at CAT, commented, ``This new alliance with Merck, a global leader in microbial vaccine research, presents CAT with an exciting opportunity to share in the future success of antiviral drug development. CAT is committed to addressing unmet medical need through the discovery, development and commercialization of novel antibody-based drugs. As CAT's first product development initiative in infectious disease, this alliance with Merck broadens the potential impact of CAT's proprietary technologies by examining both antibody and non-antibody approaches to the prevention and treatment of HIV infection and disease. CAT is extremely pleased to be Merck's first partner for research and development of human monoclonal antibodies, particularly in a disease area as challenging as AIDS, and looks forward to sharing in the future rewards of this alliance''... |
