Bangalore, May 13, 2008: India’s top pharma company by revenues Ranbaxy Laboratories has signed a strategic product development agreement with Merck for a drug discovery and clinical development collaboration for new products, in the anti-infective field.

 

Ranbaxy and Merck will work together to develop clinically validated anti-bacterial and anti-fungal drug candidates. Ranbaxy will carryout drug discovery and clinical development through phase IIa clinical trials, with Merck conducting development and commercialization of drug candidates thereafter, a company release said.

 

As part of the agreement, the collaboration will begin this year with an initial term of five years and can be extended mutually thereafter by the parties. Ranbaxy will be paid an undisclosed upfront sum, with the potential to receive payments totaling more than $100 million associated with the achievement of various research, development and regulatory approval milestones for each target included in the collaboration. Ranbaxy is also eligible to receive significant royalties on worldwide net sales of any products commercialized under the agreement.

 

Malvinder Mohan Singh, CEO and MD, Ranbaxy, said, “We believe that our philosophy of partnering with Big Pharma will continue to gather momentum as companies continue to recognize the strength and breadth of our R&D expertise and resources. This collaboration with Merck positions Ranbaxy to extend its capability set and move up the value chain for drug discovery and development.”

 

"Collaborations with external partners, wherever in the world, are an integral and essential part of Merck's long-term strategy to build and expand its pipeline," said Dr. Mervyn Turner, senior vice president of worldwide Licensing and external research at Merck. "By combining each other's strengths and resources both Merck and Ranbaxy are able to decrease development risk while sharing the potential reward."