Merck inked a drug discovery collaboration with Nuevolution to gain access to its Chemetics® drug discovery technology. The firms will collaborate to identify small molecule leads against several drug targets of interest to Merck. Chemetics uses DNA labeling to allow fragment-based drug screening.
Nuevolution will screen multiple multi-million member diverse fragment based screening libraries for hit identification. Through the design, synthesis, and screening of target-focused Chemetics follow-up libraries, the parties will also work together to perform hit-to-lead optimization.
Merck will fund the research with an upfront payment to Nuevolution and will make milestone payments as candidate molecules progress through preclinical and clinical development and onto the market. Additionally, Nuevolution is eligible to receive royalties on the commercial sales of approved products.
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