Achievement of the milestone has entitled Envoy to receive a cash payment from Merck.
The milestone was linked to Envoy successfully applying its bacTRAP technology in certain tissues that are important to diabetes and obesity.
Envoy entered into an agreement with Merck focused on developing new treatments for diabetes and obesity in January 2010.
The alliance makes use of Envoy’s proprietary bacTRAP technology platform for the identification of novel targets in specific cell types of interest in the physiology of diabetes and obesity.
Envoy CEO Brad Margus said they are pleased to have met this important milestone less than one year after initiating their alliance with Merck.
"We look forward to further advancing this program as we work together to discover new medicines in these critical therapeutic areas," Margus said.