Bionomics licenses BNC375 to Merck
Bionomics Ltd. (ASX:BNO; OTCBB:BMICY) jumped A$0.10 (22%) to A$0.53 in Australia on Tuesday after granting Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) exclusive, worldwide development and commercialization rights to Bionomics' preclinical BNC375 program, which targets cognitive dysfunction associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other CNS conditions. The partners will conduct preclinical development, after which Merck will be responsible for clinical development. Merck will fund all R&D and commercialization of any products. Bionomics will also receive $20 million in cash up front and be eligible for up to $506 million in undisclosed research and clinical development milestones, plus royalties. The program includes BNC375, a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha 7 (CHRNA7), and undisclosed backup compounds.
Merck and Bionomics forged a two-year deal in August 2013 to discover and develop small molecules to treat chronic and neuropathic pain using Bionomics' ionX and Multicore drug discovery technologies to identify candidates. ...