Merck Serono acquires rights to Symphogen cancer drug

Merck Serono has agreed a deal with Symphogen to gain development and commercialisation rights to Sym004, a new colorectal cancer therapy.

The deal grants Merck Serono an exclusive worldwide license for Sym004, an investigational antibody mixture targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is currently undergoing phase II testing.

It is designed for the treatment of patients with advanced KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer who have previously progressed on treatment with standard chemotherapy and a marketed anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody, as well as sufferers of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who have failed anti-EGFR-based therapy.

Symphogen will receive an upfront payment of $20 million (12.53 million pounds) from Merck Serono and will also be eligible for milestone-based fees and royalties.

Dr Susan Jane Herbert, head of global business development and strategy for Merck Serono, said: "This collaboration once again reflects our strong commitment to fighting cancer and to providing new treatment options to patients."

Earlier this week, the company announced the launch of Quartz Bio, a new bioinformatics business offering biomarker data analysis services.