ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Lycera Corp., a biopharmaceutical company pioneering innovative approaches to developing novel oral medicines to treat autoimmune diseases, today announced that it has reached the first milestone under its research collaboration with Merck, triggering a milestone payment. The collaboration is focused on developing drug candidates that have the potential to treat major autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis.