Merck and Day One collaborate to develop MEK inhibitor Pimasertib

CompilationFan Dongdong

A few days ago, Day One Biopharmaceuticals announced that it has signed a global license agreement with Merck to jointly develop and commercialize Pimasertib and MSC2015103B.

Pimasertib and MSC2015103B are oral, highly selective small molecule allosteric inhibitors of MEK 1/2 (key enzyme in the MAPK signaling pathway).

Day One Pharmaceuticals, located in South San Francisco, is a pharmaceutical startup.

According to the cooperation agreement between the two companies, Day One will pay Merck an upfront payment, plus other regulatory, approval, and sales-based milestone payments.

Prior to this, Pimasertib has conducted more than 10 phase 1/2 clinical trials in approximately 900 patients with various tumor types.

DAY101 is a potential, first-class, brain-permeable, highly selective type II pan-RAF kinase inhibitor under Day One.

It is worth mentioning that a large part of pediatric tumors are caused by BRAF wild-type fusion protein, not by BRAF mutations.

Reference source: Day One Expands Clinical-Stage Oncology Pipeline; Announces Global License Agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to Develop and Commercialize MEK Inhibitor Pimasertib