Roy­al­ty Phar­ma bets Mer­ck­'s schiz­o­phre­nia drug can go where Pfiz­er, Take­da and Lund­beck­'s couldn’t

Mer­ck, the third-largest phar­ma R&D spender in 2021, has en­list­ed out­side help in fund­ing its mid-stage schiz­o­phre­nia pro­gram as the Big Phar­ma looks to fol­low in the foot­steps of Karuna Ther­a­peu­tics’ late-stage tri­al suc­cess in the CNS dis­or­der and its im­me­di­ate fi­nanc­ing haul.

The New Jer­sey drug­mak­er is team­ing up with Pablo Legor­re­ta’s roy­al­ty buy­er, plain­ly named Roy­al­ty Phar­ma, in a deal that sees Mer­ck get $50 mil­lion for the on­go­ing Phase IIb of MK-8189, which is be­ing stud­ied as a treat­ment for hal­lu­ci­na­tions, psy­chosis and oth­er pos­i­tive symp­toms as­so­ci­at­ed with schiz­o­phre­nia in pa­tients with acute episodes.

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