Under the terms of this agreement, Ambrilia grants Merck the exclusive worldwide rights to its lead compound, PPL-100. In return Ambrilia receives an upfront licensing fee of $17 million on signing and is eligible for cash payments totaling up to $215 million upon successful completion of the development and marketing of the compound.
The first of the milestone payments will be based on the successful completion of a phase I repeat dose pharmacokinetic study. Once the study is completed, Merck will assume all subsequent development costs related to PPL-100.
“This agreement is a significant milestone for Ambrilia; an influx of potentially over $CDN22 million in 2006 allows the company to be much stronger financially and provides us with the opportunity to allocate the necessary resources to further progress the development of our other technologies and product candidates,” said Hans Mader, President and CEO of Ambrilia.