Merck and Dragonfly partner to develop cancer immunotherapies

Dragonfly Therapeutics announced a strategic collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through a subsidiary, to discover, develop and commercialize innovative immunotherapies for patients with solid tumor cancers. The collaboration grants Merck the option to license exclusive worldwide intellectual property rights to products developed using Dragonfly’s TriNKET™ technology platform for a number of solid-tumor programs, with the potential to earn Dragonfly up to $695 million in up front and milestone payments per program as well as royalties on sales of approved products.

“Merck is a world leader in solid-tumor cancer therapies and has a demonstrated history of delivering breakthrough treatment options for patients,” said Bill Haney, co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly Therapeutics. “We’re excited to work with Merck to accelerate bringing drug candidates developed using our innovative TriNKET™ technology platform to patients with a number of solid tumor malignancies.”

“Dragonfly’s technology platform offers an opportunity to harness the power of NK cell receptor engagement to develop novel therapeutics targeting solid tumor indications,” said Dr. Joe Miletich, Senior Vice President Discovery and Preclinical Development, Merck Research Laboratories. “We look forward to working with the Dragonfly team.”