AZ and Merck: Moving Forward Cautiously

A year after Merck & Co. Inc. and AstraZeneca PLC announced their innovative collaboration on the clinical development of two early-stage targeted cancer therapies, both companies say the project remains on track. To date the collaboration remains the sole example of two big drug makers collaborating in such close fashion on such early stage products. The companies were willing to take the leap in order to accelerate development of what they hope will be an effective targeted treatment in an emerging, highly competitive, but frustrating area of cancer research.