Merck Licenses KRAS Inhibitor SPR2015 from SciBrunch for $2.13 Billion
The pharmaceutical company Merck has entered into an exclusive global license agreement with Shanghai-based SciBrunch Therapeutics for the investigational oral KRAS G12D (ON) inhibitor SPR2015. The deal is worth $2.13 billion, with a $400 million upfront payment to SciBrunch and potential milestone payments totaling $1.73 billion.
SPR2015 is a molecular glue inhibitor that targets the active form of KRAS G12D, which is found in human tumors. It has shown nanomolar antiproliferative activity across multiple KRAS G12D-mutant cell lines and demonstrated monotherapy antitumor efficacy in cell-derived and patient-derived xenograft models.
The agreement reflects a trend of large pharmaceutical companies licensing early assets from China-based developers, with Merck acquiring manufacturing rights at the preclinical stage. This means that SciBrunch's synthetic routes, analytical methods, and specifications will need to be transferred to Merck's internal network or contract manufacturing partners ahead of first-in-human studies.