Merck And Bionomics Announce $526M Drug Research Partnership

Merck and Bionomics have announced a $526 million drug research partnership — which is an extension of the company’s existing agreement. Merck and Bionomics will be working together on its BNC375 research program focused on treating the effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other central nervous system conditions.

Under the terms of the drug discovery agreement, Merck will fund all research and development of drug candidates, in addition to the commercialization of any drugs arising from the research collaboration. Merck will be paying Bionomics $20 million immediately, with the remaining $506 million linked to milestone payments when certain points in research and clinical development are reached. Bionomics could also increase that number through royalties earned on drug products sold from the research collaboration.

Bionomics has already licensed its BNC375 program to Merck under the drug research agreement. BNC375 works by targeting the α7 nicotinic acetyl choline receptor. That particular receptor is important to thought processes and manipulating it might be key to improving memory and reducing brain inflammation in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Bionomics has stated that BNC375 has already been tested in animals and has shown strong memory enhancing capabilities. The company also stated that the drug has not yet shown any adverse side effects. Bionomics believes that BNC375 has the potential to treat a number of neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The drug research agreement will also utilize Bionomics’ ionX drug discovery platform, which is a group of technologies that identify drugs targeting ion channels for diseases of the central nervous system. The platform also uses systems for a high throughput electrophysiology.

Deborah Rathjen, Ph.D., and Bionomics’ CEO and managing director, released a statement on the agreement between the companies. “We believe that the combination of Bionomics’ innovative approach and technologies, within its ionX platform, has the potential to rapidly advance new treatments,” she said.