Newly-formed FKD Therapies gets rights to Merck & Co gene therapy portfolio

FKD Therapies Oy, a recently-formed company in Finland specializing in advanced gene based medicines, has acquired an exclusive licence from US drug giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) to develop and commercialize Merck’s gene therapy portfolio.

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck has granted FKD an exclusive licence to develop and commercialize a recombinant adenoviral interferon alfa 2b (rAd-IFN) for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer. The accord also provides FKD with the option to develop two other investigational programs, a recombinant adenoviral p21 (rAd-p21) to treat glaucoma surgery failure and conditionally replicating adenoviral technology (CRAV) for the treatment of solid tumors. In return Merck has taken an equity stake in FKD. Further details were not disclosed.

FKD was established in February 2011 and has working capital reserves of $16 million, secured in a private fundraising underwritten by Wolbern Invest and supported by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. rAd-IFN has completed Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer. Bladder cancer, the fourth most common cancer in the world, affects some 75,000 new patients each year in the USA alone and is the most costly cancer to treat on a lifetime survival basis.1