Bionomics, Merck in Pain Pact

Bionomics Ltd. has entered a two-year agreement with Merck to discover and develop small molecule candidates for the treatment of chronic pain, including neuropathic pain. Bionomics will use its ionX drug discovery platform and MultiCore chemistry to identify potential drug candidates.
 
Merck will have the option to exclusively license a compound from Bionomics for further development and Bionomics may receive option fees and development and regulatory milestone payments of as much as $172 million, as well as royalties on sales. Bionomics retains the right to develop and commercialize certain compounds Merck does not decide to pursue.
 
Dr. Deborah Rathjen, chief executive officer and managing director of Bionomics, said, “We are very excited to be working with Merck to define new therapies for chronic and neuropathic pain. Bionomics is continuing to deliver on its business model of strategic partnering for the development and commercialization of selected programs within its pipeline.”
 
Dr. Sue O’Connor, Bionomics vice president of Neuroscience Research, said, “Merck is a global pharmaceutical company and this research collaboration is a strong validation of our drug discovery platforms.”