Daiichi Sankyo and Merck (MSD) have announced the expansion of their antibody-drug conjugates partnership to co-develop and co-commercialize Merck's MK-6070, an investigational T-cell engager targeting DLL3.
This agreement builds on their existing collaboration to develop new cancer therapies and will be effective worldwide, except in Japan, where Merck retains exclusive rights. MK-6070 is currently in phase 1/2 clinical trials targeting DLL3, a ligand highly expressed in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and neuroendocrine tumors. The collaboration aims to evaluate MK-6070 in combination with Daiichi Sankyo's ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd) for certain SCLC patients. Merck, which acquired MK-6070 through its acquisition of Harpoon Therapeutics earlier this year, will oversee manufacturing and supply.
As part of the agreement, Merck will receive an upfront payment of $170 million. Both companies will share research and development, commercialization expenses, and profits globally, excluding Japan, where Daiichi Sankyo will receive royalties.
The original collaboration was inked last year when Merck acquired the rights to ADC drug candidates from Daiichi Sankyo in a deal valued up to $22 billion. Merck paid $4 billion upfront, $1.5 billion in continuation payments, and up to $16.5 billion in potential additional payments. The companies planned to jointly develop and potentially commercialize three ADC candidates globally (excluding Japan), with Daiichi Sankyo handling manufacturing and supply.
The partnership included three Daiichi Sankyo oncology ADCs: patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd), ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd), and raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXd). These ADCs utilized Daiichi Sankyo's DXd technology for targeted delivery of cytotoxic agents to cancer cells expressing specific surface antigens.