NEW YORK, November 21, 2014: Morgan Lewis advised Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in its global agreement with Pfizer Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize MSB0010718C, an investigational anti-PD-L1 antibody currently in development by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, as a potential treatment for multiple tumor types, to accelerate the two companies’ presence in immuno-oncology. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, will receive an upfront payment of $850 million and is eligible to receive regulatory and commercial milestone payments up to $2.0 billion. Both companies will jointly fund all development and commercialization costs and all revenues obtained from selling any anti-PD-L1 or anti-PD-1 products generated from this collaboration will be shared.
The Morgan Lewis team on the deal was led by Business and Finance partner Randall Sunberg along with associate Dov Hass. Also on the team were Antitrust partners Izzet Sinan and Harry Robins, FDA partners Phoebe Mounts and Kathleen Sanzo and Business and Finance partner Torsten Schwarze.