Under the agreement with Chimerix, Merck will be responsible for development and commercialization of CMX157, an investigational oral nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor currently in Phase I clinical development.
EFdA (4′-ethynyl-2-fluoro-2′-deoxyadenosine) is a novel nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor candidate which has shown antiviral activity toward highly resistant HIV strains.
Persuant to the agreement with Yamasa, Merck will pay an up-front fee and future milestone payments in return for exclusive worldwide license rights.
Merck Research Laboratories infectious disease clinical research vice president Robin Isaacs said, "Despite the tremendous advances made over the past 20 years, there remains considerable unmet need in the treatment of HIV infection."
Merck also announced plans to begin a Phase II study of MK-1439, an investigational next generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor.