C4 Therapeutics Inc. has entered into a license and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA to discover two targeted protein degraders against critical oncogenic proteins.

Abbisko Therapeutics Co. Ltd. has out-licensed China rights to its colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor inhibitor, pimicotinib, to Merck KGaA in a deal worth up to $605.5 million. Pimicotinib is in phase III trials in patients with tenosynovial giant cell tumors in China, the U.S., Canada and Europe.

Drawn to the potential for improved selectivity and safety profiles of PARP-1-specific inhibitors over their first-generation counterparts, Merck KGaA signed an exclusive, worldwide license deal with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. worth up to €1.4 billion (US$1.5 billion) to gain access to the latter’s next-generation poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 inhibitor, HRS-1167.

Drawn to the potential for improved selectivity and safety profiles of PARP-1-specific inhibitors over their first-generation counterparts, Merck KGaA signed an exclusive, worldwide license deal with Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. worth up to €1.4 billion (US$1.5 billion) to gain access to the latter’s next-generation poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 inhibitor, HRS-1167.

Quris Technologies Ltd. (Quris-AI) and Merck KGaA have extended their collaboration after a successful initial preclinical study of Quris-AI’s BioAI drug safety platform.

Benevolentai Ltd. has signed a strategic collaboration with Merck KGaA to identify novel drug candidates, initially for three targets in oncology, neurology and immunology.

There have been no signs of liver damage with Novartis AG’s oral Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor remibrutinib for treating chronic spontaneous urticaria, top-line results from two phase III trials show, suggesting that faith in the faltering BTK space could be restored.