Merck, Idera Extend Vaccine Pact

Merck, through an affiliate, has extended its research collaboration with Idera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for a fourth year. The companies entered into an exclusive license and research collaboration in December 2006 to develop and commercialize vaccine products containing agonist compounds targeting Toll-like Receptors (TLRs) in the fields of oncology, infectious diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease.

As part of the agreement, the companies engaged in a two-year R&D collaboration to generate novel agonists targeting TLR7 and TLR8, incorporating both Merck and Idera chemistry for use in vaccines in the licensed fields, with Merck having the option to extend the collaboration for two additional one-year periods.

“During the first three years of our agreement, scientists at Idera and Merck have created a large portfolio of novel agonists of TLRs 7, 8, and 9 using Idera’s chemistry-based approach together with Merck’s innovations in chemistry and adjuvant formulation,” said Tim Sullivan, Ph.D., vice president of development programs at Idera. “We look forward to continued studies with selected TLR agonist candidates as vaccine adjuvants.”

“Throughout this collaboration, scientists at Merck and Idera have collaborated closely to characterize novel TLR agonists as adjuvant candidates,” said Amy Espeseth, Ph.D., director of virology and vaccines, Worldwide External Basic Research, Merck Research Laboratories. “We look forward to continued progress on the program.”