Merrion forges tech deal with Novo Nordisk

Ireland's Merrion Pharmaceuticals has forged a new deal to use its technology to develop an oral formulation of Novo Nordisk's proprietary GLP-1 receptor agonist. And the biotech company announced that Novo Nordisk will pay out up to $58 million in milestone payments through an approval.

Novo Nordisk, which specializes in diabetes drugs, also gains the rights to use Merrion's GIPET technology for other oral drug programs and will pay additional milestones on each program. A joint development committee will oversee the development of initial clinical batches for the first oral drug program and Novo Nordisk will be responsible for development and commercialization costs. The company is also making an equity investment in Merrion.

"This second partnership with Novo Nordisk builds on the first oral insulin analogue agreement signed in November 2008," said John Lynch, CEO of Merrion. "We believe that this development further demonstrates the potential for long term partnership between our two companies and also enhances our capacity to develop our other products and technologies."

- check out Merrion's release

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