Under the agreement, Orna will receive up to $3.5bn for the development, regulatory, and sales milestones associated with the progress of the multiple vaccine and therapeutic programmes
Merck has partnered with Orna Therapeutics to discover, develop, and commercialise multiple vaccines and therapeutics programs. (Credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
Biopharmaceutical company Merck has partnered with Orna Therapeutics to discover, develop, and commercialise multiple vaccines and therapeutics programmes.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will pay Orna a $150m upfront payment which will be incurred by Merck in the third quarter of 2022 and included in non-GAAP results.
Orna will receive up to $3.5bn for the development, regulatory, and sales milestones associated with the progress of the multiple vaccine and therapeutic initiatives.
The start-up will also be qualified to collect royalties on any authorised drugs resulting from the partnership.
Orna will continue to advance additional fully owned programmes in fields like oncology and genetic illness while retaining rights to its oRNA-LNP technology platform.
Additionally, Merck will contribute $100m in stock to Orna’s recently finished Series B fundraising round.
Orna’s proprietary oRNA technology converts linear RNAs into circular RNAs (oRNAs) by self-circularisation
It has been demonstrated that oRNA molecules are more stable in vivo than linear mRNA and have the capacity to create more therapeutic proteins within the body.
In order to target specific body parts, Orna has created customised lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that contain newly generated oRNA molecules in a more compact form.
Orna chief executive officer Tom Barnes said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Merck, a company committed to breakthrough science, which has recognized the potential our platform can bring to patients.
“Our oRNA technology plus novel delivery solutions are designed to unlock the full potential of RNA in therapeutics and vaccines.”
Barnes added: “The combined expertise of Orna and Merck aims to accelerate the development of RNA therapeutics for patients in need of better treatment options.”