At Merck Serono, we believe that a healthier future deserves a sizeable investment. Our commitment to discovering and developing new therapies can be seen in the roughly 25% of total sales which we devote each year to research and development activities.
Our R&D pipeline is well-stocked with many promising candidates. In addition to our core therapy areas, we are exploring new therapeutic directions that will bring innovative treatment options to patients in areas of high unmet medical need.
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Oncology
Merck Serono’s focus on the development of targeted cancer therapies is on three therapeutic platforms: targeting the tumor cell, the tumor environment and the immune system.
Key projects in clinical development include:
- Erbitux, where we continue to explore additional indications such as non-small cell lung cancer, gastric cancer and breast cancer
- Stimuvax, liposomal cancer vaccine
- Cilengitide, integrin inhibitor, anti-angiogenic
- 3 immunocytokines, tumor-specific monoclonal antibodies
Merck Serono is conducting research to develop innovative treatments for neurodegenerative diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson‘s disease, in order to offer new therapeutic options to patients with high unmet medical needs.
Late-stage projects in clinical development include:
Safinamide, an adjunct therapy for Parkinson’s
Oral cladribine tablets, potentially the first oral therapy for MS.
Merck Serono’s research on inflammation focuses on proteins that modulate key pathogenic mechanisms in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.
Key projects in clinical development include:
- Atacicept (TACI-Ig), a soluble ligand antagonist controlling B-lymphocyte responses that could be useful in the treatment of a range of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. It is also being explored in other therapeutic areas including Neurodegenerative Diseases (MS) and oncology (B-cell malignancies)
- FGF18 (Fibroblast growth factor 18) in osteoarthritis
Our vision is to develop and market innovative products to help infertile couples at every stage of the reproductive cycle, from follicular development to early pregnancy.
Projects in clinical development include:
- Anastrazole for ovulation induction and improvement of follicular development
- Hyperglycosylated FSH for infertility (OI/ART)
Several development projects for selective metabolic disorders are ongoing, including:
- Recombinant growth hormone for HIV-associated adipose redistribution syndrome (HARS)
- Sapropterin for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Phenylketonuria (PKU)