Merck Terminates Research Collaboration, License Agreement

Neuromed has received notification that Merck will terminate the research collaboration and license agreement for novel compounds targeting N-type calcium channels, for the treatment of pain and other disorders.

The two companies entered the collaboration in March, 2006.

Dr. Christopher Gallen, President and CEO of Neuromed, said: Over the past three years we have had an excellent and extremely productive collaboration with our colleagues at Merck. The molecules generated in our collaboration, while effective in disease models, did not demonstrate the profile needed to enter the next phase of testing, including human clinical trials. We remain confident in our goal to generate a new class of medicines from our platform.