Merck & COMPANY

Application of agonists of TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9 as vaccine adjuvants

In 2006, Idera entered into a research collaboration with Merck & Co. and granted Merck a worldwide, exclusive license to develop and commercialize Idera’s TLR7, 8, and 9 agonists by incorporating them into therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines being developed by Merck for cancer, infectious diseases, and Alzheimer’s disease. In May 2008, Idera achieved a preclinical milestone under its collaboration with Merck involving one of Idera’s novel TLR9 agonists used as an adjuvant in cancer vaccines. Merck is conducting preclinical studies to evaluate use of our TLR7, 8, and 9 agonists as vaccine adjuvants. Researchers from Merck have presented and published preclinical data from the studies conducted under this collaboration.

In January 2012, in accordance with the agreement, Merck selected multiple novel TLR7, 8, and 9 agonists for Merck’s exclusive evaluation and use as vaccine adjuvants.

Please click here for more information on this collaboration.