Merck Bets $250M On Next-Gen Approach To mRNA For Infectious Diseases, Cancer - Merck & Co (NYSE:MRK)

Merck Co & Inc MRK and Orna Therapeutics announced a collaboration agreement to discover, develop, and commercialize multiple programs, including vaccines and therapeutics in infectious disease and oncology.
Merck will make an upfront payment to Orna of $150 million. In addition, Orna will be eligible to receive up to $3.5 billion in development, regulatory, and sales milestones.
Orna will retain rights to its engineered circular RNA (oRNA) therapies (oRNA)-lipid nanoparticles (LNP) technology platform and will continue to advance other wholly owned programs in areas such as oncology and genetic disease.
Merck will also invest $100 million of equity in Orna's recently completed Series B financing round.
oRNA molecules have been shown to have greater stability in vivo than linear mRNA and have the potential to produce larger quantities of therapeutic proteins inside the body.
Newly synthesized oRNA molecules are more compactly packaged into custom LNPs, which Orna has engineered to target key tissues in the body.
Preclinical data has demonstrated the potential of oRNA expression and delivery as an approach for further development in vaccines and oncology therapeutics.
Price Action: MRK shares are up 0.08% at $90.87 during the market session on the last check Tuesday.