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Our Bureau

Mumbai, Nov. 19 Drug-maker Nicholas Piramal India Ltd (NPIL) has forged a drug-development deal with Merck & Co Inc to discover and develop cancer drugs for two targets selected and provided by Merck.

This is NPIL’s second major drug-development deal this year, following a similar pact in January with Eli Lilly for drugs targeting metabolic disorders.

NPIL will be eligible for milestone payments of $175 million (about Rs 688 crore) per target on completing the second phase of clinical trials, NPIL’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Somesh Sharma said, outlining details of the Merck deal. NPIL would also get royalty payments on commercialisation of the products, he added. NPIL shares were up over six per cent on the BSE at Rs 310.35

The deal would come under NPIL’s recently demerged research entity, said the Chairman, Mr Ajay Piramal. The company already has prospective cancer molecules undergoing trials in Canada, India and the US, he added.

Dr Sharma said that Merck had licensed out to NPIL know-how and intellectual property related to the two targets. After NPIL reaches phase II, Merck has the option to undertake phase III development of the drug.

There is no money in the short-term and this is not a “fee-for-service” deal, he said, pointing out that NPIL and Merck share both the risk and cost.

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