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Merck Buys KalVista Drug for Diabetic Eye Disease in a $760M Deal

Pharma giant Merck has now acquired rights to KalVista’s plasma kallikrein inhibitor drug by paying $37 million up front and has also agreed to provide up to $715 million in milestones plus royalties if it leads to a commercial product. It’s also paying $9 million for a 9.9% stake in the biotech.

The deal gives KalVista a partner with a strong presence in diabetes through drugs such as DPP4 inhibitors Januvia (sitagliptin) and Janumet (sitagliptin/metformin), and could add to that portfolio shortly with Pfizer-partnered SGLT2 inhibitor ertugliflozin, which was filed in the U.S. and Europe in May.

A Phase II for KVD001 is expected to launch soon, after which Merck can decide if it wants to go the next leg in picking up the option and taking it into Phase III.

Plasma kallikrein inhibition is a novel approach to the treatment of DME that we believe may offer benefit to a significant number of patients, and an oral therapy particularly would represent a groundbreaking advance for the treatment of this indication,” said KalVista CEO Andrew Crockett in a statement. “We have always believed that development and commercialization of our DME therapies would require the resources of a large pharmaceutical company, and we believe Merck has the wherewithal and resources to help us advance the development of our DME drug candidates. Importantly for KalVista, this collaboration also meets our strategic objectives of maintaining control of our oral HAE portfolio that we plan to develop independently. We look forward to providing more details about the Phase 2 trial for KVD001 in DME patients as the trial commences.

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