Advinus Therapeutics and Merck establish drug discovery and development collaboration
November 16, 2006

Advinus Therapeutics and Merck & Co announced today that they have formed a drug discovery and clinical development collaboration in the area of metabolic disorders.

Advinus and Merck will work together to develop clinically validated drug candidates for metabolic disorders, with Merck retaining the right to advance the most promising of these candidates into late-stage clinical trials. Under the terms of the agreement, Advinus will receive an upfront payment and could potentially receive milestone payments of up to US$74.5 million for each target included in the collaboration. Advinus is also eligible for royalties on the sales of any products that result from the collaboration. The collaboration will begin with two target programs, and could expand to include others over time.

"This collaboration provides an avenue for Advinus to gain access to cutting-edge technologies from Merck while leveraging its India-based discovery and development capabilities," said Dr Rashmi Barbhaiya, CEO and managing director of Advinus. "Importantly, this agreement also reflects India's emerging role in bringing innovative and life-saving drugs to market with speed and cost-effectiveness."

Merv Turner, PhD, senior vice president, Worldwide Licensing and External Research at Merck, noted, "Merck is looking forward to establishing its first research-based collaboration in India with Advinus.

"This agreement furthers our strategy of building global alliances and our commitment to discovering and developing innovative medicines for metabolic disorders, a growing public health issue," Dr Turner added.

"Despite the fact that it is a young company, we are proud that Advinus' scientific skill has led to the establishment of this collaboration with Merck," said R Gopalakrishnan, executive director of Tata Sons and chairman of the board of Advinus. "We look forward to working together in a productive partnership."

About Advinus
Advinus is an emerging company with deep capabilities in drug discovery and contract services for pharma and agrochem companies. It is backed by the Tatas, India's largest and most respected business house, and led by executives with extensive international experience in pharma R&D. Advinus is uniquely focused on Pharmaceutical R&D with no generics or API focus. Advinus Discovery focuses on metabolic diseases, inflammation and neglected diseases. The company works with internationally reputed partners to deliver value from innovation. The discovery unit is fully integrated from hit to pre-clinical candidate. Advinus Development offers an integrated service platform for process chemistry, DMPK, clinical pharmacology, safety assessment, analytical R&D, bio analytical and formulation development.

About Merck & Co, Inc
Merck & Co is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck currently discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines to address unmet medical needs. The company devotes extensive efforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines, but also help deliver them to the people who need them. Merck also publishes unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service.