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It’s Official: The Merck-Daiichi Deal Has The Biggest Upfront Ever

 
• By Elizabeth Cairns and Edwin Elmhirst

But the partners will have to avoid the pitfalls that have bedevilled several other expensive licensing deals.    

Chest - money
• Source: Shutterstock: Brian Goodman

The enormous upfront cash payment made by Merck & Co., Inc. to Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. as part of its licensing deal last week led some industry watchers to speculate whether it was, at $4bn, the largest ever seen in biopharma. A new Scrip analysis, using data from Evaluate Pharma and Biomedtracker, can now confirm that it is – just.

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