Enumeral, Merck in Immune Profiling Pact

Enumeral Biomedical Holdings, Inc. and Merck, through a subsidiary, have signed an oncology collaboration study agreement to use Enumeral’s human approach in colorectal cancer tissues from patients to identify cellular responses to immune-oncology therapies being developed by Merck.
 
Enumeral’s immune profiling platform may increase the probability of finding rare immune cells associated with disease or drug response through improved efficiency and sensitivity. Enumeral will receive R&D funding and is eligible to receive undisclosed milestone payments if certain goals are met. Merck has exclusive rights to data related to its compounds that are generated from the studies.
 
“Our platform provides the opportunity to understand broadly how immunotherapy works in humans, based on its ability to evaluate the function of critical rare immune cells in human clinical samples,” said Arthur H. Tinkelenberg, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Enumeral. “The ability to determine cellular functions within these samples, we believe, has the potential to accelerate discovery and development of immunotherapies in oncology. We are very pleased to be working with Merck, one of the leaders in the field of antibody immunotherapy, to tackle these important clinical problems.”