Biotech up­start adds a failed Mer­ck KGaA drug to the pipeline, map­ping new com­bo ap­proach to MAPK path­way

Can a biotech start­up suc­ceed where a big phar­ma play­er failed? Day One plans to find out af­ter in-li­cens­ing a pair of dis­cards from Mer­ck KGaA.

The biotech has struck a deal — with­out dis­clos­ing any terms — for two MEK 1/2 in­hibitors, pi­masert­ib and MSC2015103B from the Ger­man com­pa­ny.

Pi­masert­ib was shelved by Mer­ck KGaA af­ter pro­duc­ing mixed re­sults through a big cam­paign in­volv­ing 10 Phase I/II stud­ies. One of those in­volved a com­bi­na­tion ap­proach with gem­c­itabine that flopped in pan­cre­at­ic can­cer.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER