Under the agreement, Bionomics will receive an upfront payment of $2 million and committed research funding. Merck Serono will fund all development activities, including clinical development.
Merck Serono intends to select compounds from Bionomics pool of compounds, and for each compound selected Bionomics may receive milestone payments of up to $47 million, based on successful development and commercialization. In addition, Bionomics will be eligible to receive undisclosed royalties on the net sales of licensed products.
Bernhard Kirschbaum, executive vice president of research at Merck Serono, said: “This R&D collaboration brings together Bionomics’s expertise in Kv1.3 biology and Merck Serono’s expertise in multiple sclerosis pharmacology in a combination that could speed up progress in the identification of novel drug candidates for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.”