HQ Team
April 17, 2025: Austria’s Cyprumed GmbH has announced a license and option agreement with Merck & Co., to develop oral formulations of the US-based company’s peptides for an upfront payment of $493 million.
The non-exclusive license and option agreement will help Merck develop its oral peptide formulations using Cyprumed’s drug delivery technology, according to a statement from Cyrumed.
Merck will gain non-exclusive global rights to Cyprumed’s oral peptide delivery platform for an undisclosed number of targets. The companies didn’t disclose the peptide targets and other financial details were sketchy.
Cyprumed will be eligible to receive up to $493 million in upfront, development, regulatory and net sales milestones associated with the approval of any products under the collaboration, according to the statement.
Exclusive license option
Cyprumed may receive additional payments if Merck exercises its exclusive license option. Merck will be responsible for the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of any product utilizing the Cyprumed delivery technology under the agreement.
“This collaboration with Merck, a company dedicated to peptide therapeutics, marks a significant step for Cyprumed. Our drug delivery technology, with its proven effectiveness and scalability, has the potential to unlock new opportunities in peptide therapeutics. Continuing this collaboration with Merck to develop our innovative tablet formulations for additional targets is a great validation of our technology,” said Florian Föger, PhD, and CEO of Cyprumed.
Peptides used in drug formulations refer to short chains of amino acids that are incorporated into medications for therapeutic purposes. These peptides can mimic the actions of naturally occurring hormones, growth factors, or other signalling molecules, or they can be designed to have specific therapeutic effects.
Guiding proteins
Peptide targets refer to specific sequences of amino acids (peptides) that are used to direct or interact with specific cellular components.
These peptides can be used for various purposes, including guiding proteins to their correct locations within the cell, delivering drugs to specific sites, or interfering with cellular processes.
Allen C. Templeton, vice president, of pharmaceutical sciences, at Merck Research Laboratories said: “We look forward to collaborating with the Cyprumed team to leverage their technology to help advance our macrocyclic peptide development efforts.”
Drug delivery
Cyprumed is a drug delivery technology company based in Innsbruck, Austria. The company focuses on developing technology platforms for the oral administration of therapeutic peptides, including GLP-1 analogues, macrocycles and mini-proteins.
Cyprumed’s proprietary delivery platforms feature tablet formulations that offer oral bioavailability and build on already approved pharmaceutical excipients, improving scalability, cost-efficiency and regulatory compliance.
Cyprumed aims to transform peptide therapeutics by providing easy-to-manufacture, patient-friendly oral dosage forms.
