Caris Discovery™, the therapeutic research arm of Caris Life Sciences® (Caris), announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates its healthcare business as EMD Serono in the U.S. and Canada, to accelerate the discovery and development of first-in-class antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for cancer patients.
"We are thrilled to join forces with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to discover targets with the first-in-class potential to advance the next wave of transformational ADC therapeutics," said Brian Lamon, PhD, Chief Business Officer of Caris. "This partnership adds to our portfolio of external pipeline programs and is a strong validation of our highly differentiated, orthogonal multi-omics approach to discovering truly novel targets that may be harnessed to eradicate tumors."
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, will provide Caris with an upfront payment as well as research funding. In addition, Caris will be eligible for discovery, development, regulatory and sales-based milestone payments that may total up to $1.4 billion along with tiered royalties. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will receive an exclusive global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize ADC therapeutics for selected targets.
"We are dedicated to addressing high unmet needs across multiple cancer types," said Paul Lyne, Global Head of Research Unit Oncology for the Healthcare business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. "Through close collaboration with Caris, utilizing their unique discovery platform, we complement our internal ADC capabilities to develop novel first-in-class ADCs and ultimately strengthen our potential to expand our oncology portfolio."
Caris Discovery leverages the scale of Caris' core molecular profiling business to discover novel, druggable targets that would be otherwise inaccessible through more traditional approaches. Through the convergence of its proprietary ADAPT Biotargeting™ platform, a contemporaneous patient tissue repository, a suite of sophisticated AI and machine learning capabilities, and its dedicated 59,000 square foot discovery research laboratory, Caris Discovery aims to identify and validate new therapeutic targets that can be harnessed by its biopharma partners to develop the next generation of oncology therapies. Under this partnership, targets discovered and validated by Caris can be pursued by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will be responsible for the preclinical and clinical research, as well as the development and commercialization of drug candidates emanating from these programs.
"Caris Discovery is uncovering novel unexplored targets in patient populations where precision therapeutics have yet to be developed," said Milan Radovich, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Caris. "We are proud to be working closely with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to bring new therapeutic options to cancer patients together."
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