BEIJING, CHINA, May 2, 2011 – BeiGene, Ltd., today announced that it has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada). Under the terms of the agreement, Merck will provide an undisclosed amount of debt and equity financing that will support BeiGene in the discovery of preclinical investigational agents, the conduct of translational research in cancer biomarkers, and the development of clinical-stage oncology candidates.
“We are excited to move forward in our mission to identify and develop innovative cancer therapies for patients in China and hopeful that our efforts may also address the needs of patients elsewhere in Asia and the rest of the world,” said John Oyler, chief executive officer and co-founder, BeiGene . “We are delighted to welcome Merck as the first of several strategic relationships that BeiGene is establishing with pharmaceutical companies.”
"This investment and collaboration with BeiGene underscores our ongoing commitment to oncology discovery and development," said Dr. Rui Ping Dong, senior vice president and head, Emerging Markets Research and Development for Merck. "This is consistent with our emerging markets strategy to increase our capability and capacity in China through partnership."
About BeiGene
BeiGene is a Chinese life sciences biotechnology company based in Beijing that is focused on discovering and developing innovative oncology drugs that encompass novel small molecules and biologics. BeiGene is pursuing this through its own internal discovery laboratories in China and by inlicensing from pharmaceutical partners investigational therapeutics that address unmet medical needs for Chinese and Asian patients with cancer. BeiGene is also creating a robust biomarkers and bioinformatics platform to enable the identification of specific subsets of patient populations who will most likely benefit from the use of specific drugs or treatments. For more information, please visit www.beigene.com. Read More
