October 2023 Top Biopharma Deal: Daiichi Sankyo co-development and commercialization deal with Merck for 3 antibody-drug conjugates

October 19, 2023

$22B

$4B

n/a

n/a

$18B

Undisclosed royalties

50/50

Patritumab deruxtecan (HER3-DXd), ifinatamab deruxtecan (I-DXd), and raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXd)

Development and Commercialization License

Collaborative Development, Shared Dev Cost , Co-Promotion, Shared Promotion Cost , Supply by Licensor

• Daiichi Sankyo grants exclusive global rights to Merck for co-development and co-commercialization of three ADCs for solid tumor treatment.
• Daiichi handles supply and manufacturing.
• Merck covers 75% of the initial $2 billion in R&D costs.
• Merck can opt out of two ADCs, affecting payments.
• Daiichi receives $4 billion upfront and milestone-based payments.
• The deal includes upfront and continuation payments.
• Commercial milestones can result in substantial additional payments.
• R&D costs and profits are shared, and Merck may get a Japanese sales royalty.
• Daiichi manages global sales.

Congrats to Daiichi Sankyo and Merck for landing DealForma’s October 2023 Top Biopharma Deal. Last month’s Deal of the Month was Immatics – Moderna for TCR Therapies. Read about it here.

DealForma’s Deal of the Month selection is based on the largest disclosed upfront cash and equity total in partnership deals involving R&D as announced in the month prior to this article. Data for this analysis was compiled using the DealForma biopharma deals database. All data are based on publicly disclosed figures and deal terms.

We invite you to answer interesting questions on biopharma business development and licensing using our data and carefully curated profiles on deals, pipelines, companies, funding, and business executives by visiting dealforma.com to schedule your personalized demo.