Infinimmune, Merck enter into antibody discovery pact

By Kunal Das

March 31 (Reuters) - Biotech firm Infinimmune said on Tuesday it has entered into a deal with drugmaker Merck MRK.N that could be worth up to about $838 million in milestone payments, to discover and develop multiple antibodies for various undisclosed diseases.

• Under the agreement, the privately held Infinimmune will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and could earn milestone payments tied to multiple drug candidates worth up to about $838 million.

• Merck will have the exclusive right to develop and commercialize antibody candidates that come out of the collaboration.

• Infinimmune said it will use its proprietary platform to screen large numbers of human immune cells and identify naturally occurring antibodies, then use AI tools to refine and improve them.

• "The main feature of the platform is that we don't have to design antibodies from scratch. We're discovering and advancing antibodies that evolution has already selected and helped engineer inside the human body into medicines," Infinimmune CEO Wyatt McDonnell told Reuters.

• The companies will work on undisclosed targets designated by Merck for the partnership.

• "We're not constrained to one area of biology, and the partnership that we have with Merck is also not constrained to a specific disease area," McDonnell said.

• Outside the Merck deal, Infinimmune is also developing its own early-stage medicines for moderate-to-severe eczema and other immune-related diseases.