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Merck KGaA Acquires Full U.S. Rights to BLP25 Liposome Vaccine
Merck to assume development costs and will pay royalties to Biomira Inc.

30 Jan 2006 - Merck KGaA announced the signing of a binding letter of intent with Biomira Inc. to amend the licensing agreement for BLP25 Liposome Vaccine (L-BLP25), currently in development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The amended agreement gives Merck global development and marketing rights to the vaccine except in Canada, where the companies share rights to the vaccine. Previously, Merck and Biomira shared rights in the United States and Canada and Merck had exclusive rights in the rest of the world.
 
Under the letter of intent, Merck will take over full responsibility - both administrative and financial - for development and commercialization of L-BLP25, including the planned Phase III trial in NSCLC, which remains on schedule with expected initiation of the trial in mid-2006. Merck is also considering the investigating the use of L-BLP25 to treat other types of cancer.
 
In return, Biomira's co-promotion interest in U.S. sales will be converted to a specified royalty rate. The royalty and other arrangements with respect to the rest of the world will remain generally unchanged. Similarly, the milestone payments to be made by Merck pursuant to the collaboration will remain essentially the same.
 
Biomira will retain responsibility for manufacturing L-BLP25, both for clinical trials and following any marketing approval.
 
L-BLP25 is a synthetic MUC1 peptide vaccine and is a biological response modifier with a chemically synthesized peptide of a cancer-associated protein antigen widely expressed on common cancers. It is designed to induce an immune response to both the synthetic antigen and the natural corresponding antigen as expressed on the cancer.