EPIMMUNE AND MERCK ENTER INTO AGREEMENT

02-May-2003

Epimmune Inc. today announced that it had entered into an Agreement with Merck & Co., Inc. under which Merck will evaluate select Epimmune epitopes in connection with technology controlled by Merck for the development of certain vaccines.

Under the terms of the Agreement, Epimmune will provide Merck a limited number of its proprietary analog, or modified epitopes which will then be evaluated in connection with delivery technologies owned or controlled by Merck to determine the activity of the Epimmune epitopes. Epimmune received an evaluation license fee in connection with the Agreement. Merck will have an option to enter into licensing discussions with Epimmune for the development of the Epimmune epitopes for use in vaccines for the treatment of certain diseases.

Epitopes, critical signaling molecules, stimulate the T cell arm of the immune system to respond to specific regions of cancer cells or infectious agents. By combining multiple, selected epitopes into a single drug candidate, the immune response can be both targeted and optimized for strength. Epimmune's therapeutic drug candidates have been designed to treat disease by stimulating the bodys immune system to respond aggressively to infections, such as HIV, hepatitis C virus and hepatitis B virus, and tumors such as breast, colon, lung and prostate. Epimmune�s preventative drug candidates have been designed to protect against disease by teaching the bodys immune system to react quickly when exposed to infectious agents. Epimmunes technology can also be used to identify and potentially eliminate undesirable reactions to therapeutic drugs or consumer products by modifying specific epitopes to suppress the unwanted immune response.

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/22657/epimmune-and-merck-enter-into-agreement.html