Merck to acquire rights to develop cladribine for myasthenia gravis, NMOSD

Merck announced it has entered an agreement to acquire Chord Therapeutics, a biotech company that focuses on rare neuroinflammatory diseases, to expand its neurology pipeline.

Specifically, Merck will acquire the rights to develop cladribine for treating generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).

“Cladribine has a unique mechanism of action [that] is relevant in antibody-mediated disease, such as NMOSD and gMG,” Danny Bar-Zohar, MD, head of global development for the biopharma business of Merck, said in a press release from the company. “In exploratory studies, cladribine demonstrated promising results in these diseases. These data have prompted us to initiate further development with cladribine in gMG and NMOSD to potentially bring a new therapeutic option to patients and expand our portfolio in this area.”

Merck aims to use its current capabilities to further develop an oral cladribine product designed for these indications. The company noted it expects the transaction to close in early 2022.