Merck has signed a definitive agreement to acquire, through a subsidiary, Themis for an undisclosed amount. Themis focuses on developing vaccine candidates and immune-modulatory therapies using its measles virus vector platform based on a vector developed by Institut Pasteur scientists.
Merck, a global leader in vaccine development, is joining the frenzied rush to vanquish the coronavirus, announcing Tuesday that it is working on two vaccine candidates and a potential drug therapy.
Merck, which is headquartered in New Jersey and has several facilities in Pennsylvania, is backing two vaccines that involve genetically engineering an inactivated virus as a vehicle to deliver proteins that provoke an immune response to the coronavirus.