Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will pay Celera a license fee for the exclusive access to the 10 targets, in addition to the payment of development and commercial milestones plus royalties on selected targets that it advances successfully. Merck also has the option to extend the exclusivity period or add additional targets. Celera will be able to develop and commercialize related companion diagnostics, or theranostics, that are specific to certain therapeutic candidates arising from Merck’s program.
Steve Ruben, vice president of proteomic research at Celera, said: “This new agreement combines the strength of our novel proteomics target discovery and validation capability with Merck’s expertise in developing RNAi based therapeutics. This new relationship extends our ongoing therapeutic development collaborations and may lead to the development of tests that have the potential to become part of routine clinical practice in the pursuit of targeted medicine.”