Nuevolution fragment-based collaboration with Merck

Collaboration agreed

Nuevolution A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark, has entered into a drug discovery collaboration with Merck in which it will apply its proprietary Chemetics fragment-based drug discovery technology to identify novel small molecule leads against several drug targets of interest to Merck.

Nuevolution will screen multiple multi-million member diverse fragment-based screening libraries for hit identification. Through the design, synthesis and screening of target focused Chemetics follow-up libraries, the partners will also work together to perform hit-to-lead optimisation.

Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will provide Nuevolution with an upfront payment, research funding, and milestone payments as candidate molecules progress through preclinical and clinical development and onto the market. In addition, the Danish company is eligible to receive royalties on the commercial sales of approved products. Further financial details were not disclosed.

“We are delighted that a company of Merck’s stature has chosen to enter into collaboration with Nuevolution to access our fragment-based Chemetics platform, which we believe has the potential to transform small molecule lead discovery.” said Alex Gouliaev, CEO of Nuevolution.