Artios Pharma Nears Clinic With DNA Repair Response Anticancers

Merck KGaA Interested In Nuclease Targets

The UK’s Artios has linked up with Merck KGaA in a potentially multi-billion dollar deal to collaborate on discovering and developing up to eight oncology drug targets associated with DNA damage response processes, and is also progressing its own lead compounds through its pipeline.    

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Finding inhibitors of DNA damage response mechanisms is expected to yield a large number of potential drug targets, and big pharma companies are keeping a close eye on biotech firms active in the field including the UK’s Artios Pharma Limited, which has just signed up Merck KGaA for a global strategic research collaboration. 

The tie-up is “our first major deal with a large-cap pharma, although we have previously entered into agreements with academia and research charities,” Artios CEO Niall Martin told Scrip

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