Dragonfly Therapeutics Announces New Multi-Target Collaboration with Merck to Use Dragonfly's Proprietary TriNKET™ Platform to Develop Novel Drug Candidates for Patients with Solid Tumors

Merck receives exclusive options to license a number of Dragonfly's candidate natural killer (NK) cell engager immunotherapies for solid tumor malignancies.     

WALTHAM, Mass., Oct. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc. ("Dragonfly"), today announced a strategic collaboration with Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, through a subsidiary, to discover, develop and commercialize innovative immunotherapies for patients with solid tumor cancers. The collaboration grants Merck the option to license exclusive worldwide intellectual property rights to products developed using Dragonfly's TriNKET™ technology platform for a number of solid-tumor programs, with the potential to earn Dragonfly up to $695 million in up front and milestone payments per program as well as royalties on sales of approved products.

"Merck is a world leader in solid-tumor cancer therapies and has a demonstrated history of delivering breakthrough treatment options for patients," said Bill Haney, co-founder and CEO of Dragonfly Therapeutics. "We're excited to work with Merck to accelerate bringing drug candidates developed using our innovative TriNKET™ technology platform to patients with a number of solid tumor malignancies."

"Dragonfly's technology platform offers an opportunity to harness the power of NK cell receptor engagement to develop novel therapeutics targeting solid tumor indications," said Dr. Joe Miletich, Senior Vice President Discovery and Preclinical Development, Merck Research Laboratories. "We look forward to working with the Dragonfly team."

About Dragonfly
Dragonfly Therapeutics is committed to discovering, developing and commercializing therapies that use its novel TriNKET™ technology to harness the body's innate immune system to bring breakthrough cancer treatments to patients.

For more information visit: www.dragonflytx.com , www.facebook.com/dragonflytherapeutics/, or https://twitter.com/dragonflytx .  
 

Media Contact:  Maura McCarthy: maura@dragonflytx.com

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SOURCE Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc.