Complix, a Hasselt, Belgium-based biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of protein therapeutics, called Alphabodies, for the treatment of cancer and severe autoimmune diseases, it has entered into a strategic drug discovery collaboration with Merck & Co., Inc. through its subsidiary, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., to develop cell-penetrating alphabodies (CPABs) for the treatment of cancer.

Under the agreement, Complix will use its proprietary Alphabody platform to deliver CPABs against up to two intracellular cancer targets. Merck will fund related research activities and has an option to the exclusive, worldwide rights for any of the resulting compounds. Complix is entitled to receive an upfront payment and potential development milestones of up to $280 million, as well as tiered royalties.

CPABs are a lass of small proteins engineered to bind to a variety of antigens. Data available show that CPABs have the potential to address a wide range of disease targets, including intracellular targets that are difficult for current therapies to reach, according to information from Complix.

Source: Complix