Immunovaccine Inc. today announced that it has signed an agreement with Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, to in-license EMD 640744, an investigational therapeutic survivin-based cancer vaccine designed to target multiple solid tumors and hematological malignancies.

Immunovaccine will build on the current on-going Phase 1 study for EMD 640744 by formulating the survivin-based vaccine in its DepoVax delivery system. It is envisioned that after some preclinical work, the EMD 640744-DepoVax combination vaccine will proceed quickly into Phases 1 and 2 of clinical development.

The license agreement grants Immunovaccine exclusive worldwide rights, under issued patents and patent applications, to develop and commercialize the survivin-based vaccine for multiple cancer indications. Under the terms, Immunovaccine will pay Merck KGaA success-based milestones and royalties as a percentage of product sales. Further financial terms were not disclosed.

“Merck KGaA is a global leader with a track record of successfully developing therapies for cancer and we are excited to be working with them on such a vaccine candidate. We look forward to expediting the clinical development of this EMD 640744-DepoVax combination, and expanding Immunovaccine’s vaccine pipeline,” said Dr. Randal Chase, President and CEO of Immunovaccine Inc.