Merck & Co., Inc. has licensed Coley Pharmaceutical's VaxImmune(TM) vaccine adjuvant for an upfront license fee of $4 million, and milestone fess of up to $33 million plus royalties.

VaxImmune is a proprietary Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist designed to induce both an enhanced antigen-specific antibody response and a natural killer T-cell immune response when used in combination with prophylactic (preventative) or therapeutic vaccines.

VaxImmune is currently under clinical trials for various cancer, infectious disease and biowarfare applications.

Source: Coley Pharmaceutical
Photo: TLR Therapeutics, Coley Pharmaceuticals