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Merck eyes tiny patches as a vaccine delivery method

Vaxxas’ High Density Microarray Patches (HD-MAP)

Merck has exercised its option to use Vaxxas‘ High Density Microarray Patch (HD-MAP) platform as a delivery platform for a vaccine candidate, the companies announced today.

The companies did not disclose what the vaccine candidate is supposed to treat. But Merck this month announced two COVID-19 vaccine development efforts: a collaboration with IAVI and plans to acquire vaccine developer Themis Bioscience. Vaxxas (Cambridge, Mass.; Brisbane, Australia) notes that any vaccine could be delivered with its dime-sized patch.

“We are excited by this latest milestone in our collaboration with Merck, an early adopter of our novel HD-MAP platform,” Vaxxas CEO David L. Hoey said in a news release. “With their strong legacy of vaccine development Merck is a tremendous partner in our efforts to enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and reach of v…

RefleXion, Merck team up on late-stage cancer study

RefleXion announced today that it entered into a clinical collaboration with Merck to evaluate Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) Keytruda anti-PD-1 therapy in clinical trials.

Hayward, Calif.-based therapeutic oncology company RefleXion is joining forces with Merck to evaluate Keytruda’s safety and efficacy in combination with RefleXion’s biology-guided radiotherapy (BgRT) in multiple late-stage cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer, in two randomized controlled clinical trials.

The companies set their aim to establish whether treating multiple tumors with BgRT is safe and amplifies Keytruda’s therapeutic effect, according to a news release.

RefleXion’s X1 machine uses BgRT to deliver radiotherapy to multiple sites during the same treatment sessions, even for certain sites that move due to breathing or digestion. The company recently raised $100 million in a financing round following FDA clearance wins for its stereotactic body rad…

Merck, IAVI work to develop COVID-19 vaccine

Merck (NYSE:MRK) and IAVI announced today that they are collaborating to develop an investigational vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 for preventing COVID-19.

The vaccine candidate is slated to use the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) technology used as the basis for Merck’s Ervebo Ebola Zaire virus vaccine, which was the first such vaccine to be approved for use in humans, according to a news release. Merck also signed an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, to provide funding for the collaboration.

Get the full story at our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

Merck, IAVI work to develop COVID-19 vaccine

Merck (NYSE:MRK) and IAVI announced today that they are collaborating to develop an investigational vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 for preventing COVID-19.

The vaccine candidate is slated to use the recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) technology used as the basis for Merck’s Ervebo Ebola Zaire virus vaccine, which was the first such vaccine to be approved for use in humans, according to a news release. Merck also signed an agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, to provide funding for the collaboration.

“COVID-19 is an enormous scientific, medical, and global health challenge,” Merck Research Laboratories president Dr. Roger Perlmutter said in the release. “Merck is collaborating with organizations around the globe to develop anti-infectives and vaccines that aim to alleviate suffering caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection.

“Merck and IAVI are…