Merck sharpens cancer focus with AZ outlicensing deal
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Merck & Co is out-licensing the WEE1 kinase inhibitor MK-1775 to AstraZeneca to focus on its later stage oncology programs, MK-3475 and vintafolide. Deal-mad AstraZeneca is paying $50m upfront for the oral small molecule which is currently in Phase IIa studies in combination with standard-of-care therapies for P53-deficient ovarian cancer.