In Which Merck Pays A T-Cell R&D Upfront Fee: To Tiny Cue Biopharma; Full Financial Terms Not Disclosed

It seems today was a day for announced dealmaking, in the longer term developmental space, for Kenilworth.

Of course, Merck itself would never announce something this small -- but it has given permission to Cue to do so. The vote of confidence is immensely helpful to smaller outfits like Cue -- in future collaboration and fund-raising efforts.

[Like this morning's Spero announcement, Cue is headquartered in Cambridge Massachusetts, as well.] This pull quote below is from the presser -- and I'd personally bet that the upfront was less than $10 million. To get to a third of a billion dollars in payments from Kenilworth, Cue will have to deliver on all research milestones -- but that is the way all smart deals of this kind are now done:

. . . .Cue Biopharma, an immunotherapy company developing a novel, proprietary class of biologics engineered to selectively modulate the human immune system to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases, today announced a strategic research collaboration and license agreement with Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada. Under the terms of the deal, the CUE Biologics™ platform will be leveraged to develop biologics engineered to selectively modulate disease-relevant T cell subsets for the treatment of autoimmune disease. The multi-year collaboration will encompass multiple disease targets across certain primary disease indication areas. . . .

While specific financial arrangements are not being disclosed, Cue Biopharma will receive an up-front payment. Cue Biopharma is also eligible to earn up to $374 million in research, development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments in addition to tiered royalties on sales, if all pre-specified milestones associated with multiple products across the primary disease indication areas are achieved. . . .

Now you know -- with some more, of a "look back" set of tunes -- on the repeat button. . . smile. Onward. Ever, onward. Never buckle; never fall. . . onward.

नमस्ते