Merck & Co. Inc., building on a year-old deal with Aligos Therapeutics Inc., has moved to in-license an early stage nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) oligonucleotide program Aligos had previously advanced independently. The amended deal also gives Merck the right to add a new NASH target to the partnership, in addition to those already part of the agreement. With Aligos eligible to receive up to $460 million in development and commercialization milestones as well as tiered royalties on net sales per target, its rewards could reach $1.38 billion.
Lessons learned from development of hepatitis C therapies could be applied to the underserved hepatitis B population, potentially leading to a functional cure through a combination of optimized drugs that attack the virus from different angles. That is the mission of 2-year-old Aligos Therapeutics Inc., a South San Francisco-based startup focused on liver-related diseases.
