NEW YORK – Merck on Tuesday said it has licensed an investigational lipoprotein(a) inhibitor and cardiovascular medication developed by Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals.
Merck will pay Hengrui Pharma $200 million upfront for the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the drug, known as HRS-5346, outside of the greater China region. Hengrui Pharma is eligible to receive additional development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments of up to $1.77 billion and royalties on net sales of the drug, if it is approved.
Hengrui Pharma, which is based in China, developed HRS-5346 as an oral small molecule to inhibit Lp(a), a type of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol that, when elevated, is a known inherited risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The firm is currently evaluating the drug in a Phase II trial in China.
Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, in a statement said HRS-5346 "expands and complements" the firm's cardio-metabolic pipeline.
HRS-5346 is one of about a half-dozen drugs, including antisense oligonucleotides, siRNAs, and gene-editing candidates, that companies are advancing in clinical trials in an attempt to lower Lp(a) in patients with high levels of the biomarker. In licensing HRS-5346, Merck is joining other players in this space like Amgen, Novartis, and Eli Lilly.
The transaction between Merck and Hengrui Pharma is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025. Rahway, New Jersey-based Merck expects to record a pretax charge of $200 million, or approximately $.06 per share, in its financial results after the transaction closes.
"We believe Merck's clinical expertise and global scale will help accelerate the development of HRS-5346 and potentially provide more patients with an additional option to reduce their risk of atherosclerosis," Frank Jiang, executive VP and chief strategy officer of Hengrui Pharma, said in a statement.