Merck & Co and Japan's Eisai announced a potential multibillion-dollar collaboration to develop and sell Eisai's cancer drug, Lenvima.
Under the agreement, Eisai and Merck will develop and commercialize Lenvima jointly, both as monotherapy and in combination with Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda.
Lenvima is currently approved as monotherapy for use in the treatment of thyroid cancer, as well as in combination with everolimus for the treatment of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have failed previous therapy. Applications for regulatory approval of Lenvima monotherapy for the treatment of liver cancer have been submitted in Japan, the United States, Europe, China and other countries
Per the established contract, Merck will pay Eisai $300 million upfront and up to $650 million for certain option rights through March 2021. Merck is also required to pay $450 million as reimbursement for research and development expenses. Eisai could receive another $385 million in clinical and regulatory milestones, and up to $3.97 billion if it achieves certain sales benchmarks.
Read the press release