(Adds details on vaccine, Ebola outbreak, share movement)
By Ransdell Pierson
Nov 24 (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc on Monday said itwould buy worldwide commercial rights to NewLink Genetics Corp's experimental vaccine meant to prevent infection withthe Ebola virus.
Large late-stage trials of the product could begin earlynext year, Merck said.
Merck, the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker and one of the world'sbiggest makers of vaccines, would be able to speed up andsignificantly boost production of the product.
The Public Health Agency of Canada, which originallydeveloped the rVSV-EBOV vaccine, will retain non-commercialrights. A NewLink subsidiary bought the commercial rights to theproduct in 2010.
The deal between Merck and NewLink, a tiny biotechnologycompany based in Ames, Iowa, comes as other drugmakers are alsoracing to test and scale up production of treatments andpreventive vaccines for Ebola, which has killed more than 5,400people this year.
It is the worst Ebola outbreak on record, according theWorld Health Organization. Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberiaaccount for all but 15 of the deaths.
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the U.S.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part ofthe National Institutes of Health, are conducting early-stagetrials of the NewLink vaccine. The trials involve healthyvolunteers and are testing whether the vaccine is safe andprovokes a protective immune response.
Should those Phase I studies prove favorable, the NIH plansto begin large late-stage trials early next year.
Shares of NewLink were down 0.6 percent at $35.12 in morningtrading, while Merck fell 0.6 percent to $59.33.
Rival drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc is co-developingits own Ebola vaccine with the NIH and plans to build astockpile of thousands of doses for emergency deployment, ifresults are good. (Additional reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editingby Lisa Von Ahn and Siddharth Cavale)
By Ransdell Pierson
Nov 24 (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc on Monday said itwould buy worldwide commercial rights to NewLink Genetics Corp's experimental vaccine meant to prevent infection withthe Ebola virus.
Large late-stage trials of the product could begin earlynext year, Merck said.
Merck, the No. 2 U.S. drugmaker and one of the world'sbiggest makers of vaccines, would be able to speed up andsignificantly boost production of the product.
The Public Health Agency of Canada, which originallydeveloped the rVSV-EBOV vaccine, will retain non-commercialrights. A NewLink subsidiary bought the commercial rights to theproduct in 2010.
The deal between Merck and NewLink, a tiny biotechnologycompany based in Ames, Iowa, comes as other drugmakers are alsoracing to test and scale up production of treatments andpreventive vaccines for Ebola, which has killed more than 5,400people this year.
It is the worst Ebola outbreak on record, according theWorld Health Organization. Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberiaaccount for all but 15 of the deaths.
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the U.S.National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part ofthe National Institutes of Health, are conducting early-stagetrials of the NewLink vaccine. The trials involve healthyvolunteers and are testing whether the vaccine is safe andprovokes a protective immune response.
Should those Phase I studies prove favorable, the NIH plansto begin large late-stage trials early next year.
Shares of NewLink were down 0.6 percent at $35.12 in morningtrading, while Merck fell 0.6 percent to $59.33.
Rival drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc is co-developingits own Ebola vaccine with the NIH and plans to build astockpile of thousands of doses for emergency deployment, ifresults are good. (Additional reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editingby Lisa Von Ahn and Siddharth Cavale)
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