Merck KGaA Finds The Right Home For Disease-Modifying OA Agent In Novartis

Licenses Nanobody M6495 To Swiss Firm

07 Oct 2020

• By John Davis

Novartis has added an anti-osteoarthritic Nanobody, M6495, to its growing pipeline of candidates for the condition, in a €450m agreement with Merck KGaA that sees the latter deliver on its plans to find new homes for its osteoarthritis pipeline.

Reversing Osteoarthritis Changes Has Proven Difficult • Source: Shutterstock

The increasing focus of big pharma companies on specific therapeutic categories can leave promising candidates in out-of-favour conditions out in the cold, but Merck KGaA has tackled the issue head on by licensing a potentially disease-modifying osteoarthritis program to Novartis AG, in a deal valued at €450m ($527m).

Merck KGaA has out-licensed M6495, a Phase II-ready anti-ADAMTS5 Nanobody, to Novartis for an upfront payment of €50m. The Darmstadt, Germany-headquartered company could receive a further €400m if the program...

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