Merck KGaA bucks trend by edging away from CAR-T assets

21 December 2018

At a time when many big pharma companies are unreservedly buying into CAR-T therapies, Merck KGaA (MRK: DE) has taken a step away from the assets it has in the space.

The German company has amended the collaboration and license agreement it signed with Intrexon (NYSE: XON) in 2015 to develop and commercialize CAR-T therapies using Intrexon’s proprietary RheoSwitch Therapeutic System and the Sleeping Beauty non-viral gene integration technology.

Merck is now assigning development rights to Intrexon in return for shares of its common stock valued at $150 million, plus a note for another $25 million in stock.

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