Merck, Medarex, And Massachusetts In Deal

Merck & Co. has licensed technology developed by biotechnology firm Medarex and the Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for fighting infectious diarrhea. Paying $60 million upfront, Merck will get rights to CDA-1 and CDB-1, a fully human monoclonal antibody duo designed to neutralize the bacterial A and B toxins in Clostridium difficile infections. Medarex and MBL could split another $165 million in milestone payments as well as royalties from product sales by Merck. The antibody combination has completed Phase II clinical trials.