March 31 (Reuters) - Biotech firm Infinimmune said on Tuesday it has entered into a deal with Merck, that could be worth up to about $838 million in milestone payments, to discover and develop multiple antibodies for various undisclosed disease targets.
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* Under the agreement, the privately held Infinimmune willreceive an undisclosed upfront payment and could earn milestonepayments tied to multiple drug candidates worth up to about $838million. * Merck will have the exclusive right to develop andcommercialize antibody candidates that come out of thecollaboration. * Infinimmune said it will use its proprietary platform toscreen large numbers of human immune cells and identifynaturally occurring antibodies, then useAI toolsto refine andimprove them. * The companies did not disclose the disease targets Merckselected for the partnership. * Infinimmune focuses on discovering antibody medicinesdirectly from the human immune system. * Outside the Merck deal, Infinimmune is also developing itsown early-stage medicines for moderate-to-severe eczema andother immune-related diseases.
(Reporting by Kunal Das in Bengaluru)
