MERCK
20.12.2021 14:02:06 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced a strategically focused expansion of its neurology pipeline with the acquisition of the rights to develop cladribine for the treatment of generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD). Merck entered into an agreement to secure the global rights by acquiring Chord Therapeutics, a Swiss-based biotech company focused on rare neuroinflammatory diseases.
“Cladribine has a unique mechanism of action which is relevant in antibody-mediated disease such as NMOSD and gMG. In exploratory studies, cladribine demonstrated promising results in these diseases. These data have prompted us to initiate further development with cladribine in gMG and NMOSD to potentially bring a new therapeutic option to patients and expand our portfolio in this area,” said Danny Bar-Zohar, MD, Head of Global Development for the biopharma business of Merck.
Cladribine is a well characterized molecule that has been extensively studied across MS and oncologic disorders and has shown promising results in exploratory studies in gMG and NMOSD. Merck plans to leverage its existing capabilities to further develop an oral cladribine product tailored specifically for these indications. The transaction is expected to be closed in early 2022 after satisfactory completion of customary closing conditions.
Generalized myasthenia gravis is a disease in which patients experience weakness in ocular, limb, and respiratory muscles and that has a significant impact on Quality of Life. It is estimated that 700,000 people around the world are living with gMG. NMOSD, also known as Devic´s disease, is an autoimmune disease, often misdiagnosed as MS due to similar symptoms. NMOSD is estimated to impact 200,000 people around the world.
About Chord Therapeutics
Chord Therapeutics is a Swiss-based clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing drugs for patients with rare, life-threatening and severely disabling diseases. Chord is advancing its lead drug candidate, CRD1 (cladribine), for the treatment of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) and generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). Chord Therapeutics was founded in 2014 and launched in October 2020 with Series A funding by its sole investor, Omega Funds, a leading international venture capital firm focused on delivering impactful medicines to patients.
Merck in Neurology and Immunology
Merck has a long-standing legacy in neurology and immunology, with significant R&D and commercial experience in multiple sclerosis (MS). The company`s current MS portfolio includes two products for the treatment of relapsing MS – Rebif® (interferon beta-1a) and MAVENCLAD® (cladribine tablets). Merck aims to improve the lives of patients by addressing areas of unmet medical needs. In addition to Merck`s commitment to MS, the company also has a pipeline focusing on discovering new therapies that have the potential in other neuroinflammatory and immune-mediated diseases, including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.
About Merck
Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of people’s lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck generated sales of € 17.5 billion in 66 countries.
Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Merck’s technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211220005062/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Lattice and NXP Deliver Flexible, Secure Computing Solution for the Industrial Edge10.11.2026 22:00:00 CET | Press release
Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ: LSCC), the low power programmable and platform firmware leader, today announced the Lattice NXP PCIe® Companion solution, jointly enabled and promoted with NXP® Semiconductors. Pairing NXP’s i.MX 95 applications processor with Lattice Nexus™-based FPGAs over PCIe, the solution addresses the real-time connectivity, deterministic I/O, and security challenges in industrial automation, robotics, and intelligent edge applications. The joint solution is available in Lattice CertusPro™-NX or Lattice Certus™-NX configurations as companion chips to NXP i.MX 95 SoC compute processors, deepening a long-standing collaboration between Lattice and NXP spanning industrial, data center, and networking applications. The Lattice FPGA adds low latency, deterministic I/O alongside the NXP applications processor, delivering combined capabilities across real-time processing, AI, and custom I/O to help customers modernize aging designs for new interface standards. It supports e
FDA Approves PIMJETMI® (pimicotinib) for Patients with Tenosynovial Giant Cell Tumor10.11.2026 19:14:00 CET | Press release
PIMJETMI is a new once-daily oral systemic treatment option for certain U.S. patients with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT)In the Phase 3 MANEUVER trial, PIMJETMI demonstrated early1 and durable2 tumor response with clinically meaningful improvements in all clinical outcome assessments, including physical function and painPIMJETMI has shown high objective response rate (ORR) with a manageable safety profileNot intended for Canada-, UK- or US-based media Merck, a leading science and technology company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PIMJETMI® (pimicotinib), a once-daily oral colony stimulating factor-1 receptor (CSF-1R) inhibitor, as a systemic treatment for adults with symptomatic tenosynovial giant cell tumor (TGCT) for which surgical resection may cause worsening functional limitation or severe morbidity. “People living with TGCT have long faced difficult treatment decisions as they navigate a disease that can significant
Smartsheet Integrates With Claude Sheets, Making It Easy to Start Projects in Claude and Launch Workflows Across Teams with Smartsheet10.11.2026 18:57:00 CET | Press release
New Send to Smartsheet feature moves work started in Claude into Smartsheet, where the Execution Graph connects it to the people, plans and goals that see it through Smartsheet, the AI-powered enterprise work management platform, today announced a new integration with Claude Sheets, the new spreadsheet artifact in Claude from Anthropic, now in beta. With the new Send to Smartsheet feature, people who build a tracker or plan in Claude can move it into Smartsheet in a few clicks. There they can put it to work with their team, connected to the plans, projects, people and systems their organization already runs on. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261110763156/en/ With the new Send to Smartsheet feature, people who build a tracker or plan in Claude can move it into Smartsheet in a few clicks. More and more work now begins in a conversation with Claude, and the Smartsheet MCP connector for Claude puts the entire pow
InterSystems Joins Google Cloud as Launch Partner for Gemini for Healthcare10.11.2026 18:00:00 CET | Press release
Integration with InterSystems IRIS FHIR MCP will help healthcare organizations securely connect Gemini to trusted, standards-based health data InterSystems, a creative data technology provider powering more than one billion health records globally, today announced that it will serve as a launch partner for Google Cloud’s Gemini for healthcare. Through the collaboration, Gemini for healthcare will connect to the InterSystems IRIS FHIR Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, enabling healthcare organizations to give AI assistants and agents governed access to FHIR data. The integration will bring together Google Cloud’s Gemini capabilities and the standards-based data access provided by InterSystems IRIS FHIR MCP. InterSystems FHIR MCP serves the open Model Context Protocol directly from a FHIR endpoint, allowing MCP-enabled clients to discover and use FHIR tools for searching, reading, creating, updating, and managing healthcare data. “Healthcare organizations are looking for practical way
Coherent Solutions Launches AKTIV, a Dedicated Fitness and Wellness Technology Business Unit10.11.2026 16:34:00 CET | Press release
Coherent Solutions officially launches AKTIV, a dedicated business unit focused exclusively on fitness and wellness technology. AKTIV brings together over 15 years of fitness industry experience, dedicated leadership, and global engineering capabilities to help fitness and wellness operators and equipment manufacturers compete through technology. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261110242555/en/ Coherent Solutions officially launches AKTIV “We know the fitness and wellness industry and the challenges operators and manufacturers face. With AKTIV, we spend less time defining what needs to be built and more time delivering solutions that improve operations, member experiences, and business performance,” said Vadim Bartlov, Managing Director of AKTIV. AKTIV builds on Coherent Solutions' established work with leading fitness companies, including Life Time, Planet Fitness, Anytime Fitness, Orangetheory, and BowFlex,
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom