Drugmaker Sun Pharma has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with multinational Merck on its experimental psorasis drug tildrakizumab.

Sun Pharma will fork out an upfront payment of $ 80 million to Merck for the worldwide rights to tildrakizumab for use in all human indications. Tildrakizumab, Merck’s investigational therapeutic antibody candidate, is presently being evaluated to treat chronic plaque psoriasis, a skin ailment, the companies said in a joint-statement.

Merck will continue all clinical development and regulatory activities, which will be funded by Sun Pharma. Once the product gets an approval, Sun Pharma will be responsible for regulatory activities, including subsequent submissions, pharmacovigilance, post approval studies, manufacturing and commercialization of the approved product, the note said.

Merck is eligible to receive undisclosed payments associated with regulatory (including product approval) and sales milestones, as well as tiered royalties ranging from “mid-single digit through teen percentage rates on sales,” it added.

Merck & Co Inc, known as MSD outside the US and Canada, has existing tie-ups with Sun Pharma, including a joint-venture, set up in April l2011 to develop and make products for the emerging markets. In the same month last year, the two companies partnered again, this time allowing Sun to sell Merck’s diabetes drug Sitagliptin in India.

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