Multinational science and technology company Merck KGgA announced on Monday that it has closed a deal with Swiss biotech company Debiopharm to develop and market its Xevinapant drug for head and neck cancer. The deal is estimated to be worth 900 million euros ($1.08 billion).
The terms of the deal stipulate that Merck will have to pay Debiopharm an upfront fee of 188 million euros for the product license. Additional payments, which include regulatory and commercial fees as well as royalties, amount to approximately 710 million euros.
Merck Chief Executive Stefan Oschmann had the following to say regarding his company’s new deal: “This late-stage asset complements our Healthcare pipeline, which will be one of Merck’s key growth drivers in the coming years.”
In February 2020, Xevinapant was awarded breakthrough therapy designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This is after mid-stage trials of the drug indicated that it decreased the risk of death by 51% when paired together with chemoradiotherapy.
Currently, Xevinapant is undergoing late-stage testing for previously untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
