Merck & Co. (MRK) said it will join projects led by two
major U.S. universities to develop new approaches toward
eradicating HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The collaboration is the latest in a string of partnerships
between drug firms and academia, including Gilead Sciences Inc.'s
(GILD) four-year cancer-therapy project with the Yale School of
Medicine.
Merck will join a new project led by the University of North
Carolina Chapel Hill that will look for ways to purge persistent
infection of the virus from the body. The research team includes 19
investigators from UNC and eight other U.S. universities. Merck is
the project's only pharmaceutical industry partner.
At the same time, Merck will work with researchers at the
University of California San Francisco on a five-year project to
define HIV's reservoirs, better understand the reservoirs and test
potential treatments for the virus.
"Collaboration has been the hallmark of much of the progress
made against HIV since the virus was first identified 30 years
ago," Merck Research Laboratories Vice President Daria Hazuda said.
"Merck is honored and excited to participate in these important new
undertakings."
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a
part of the National Institutes of Health, will fund most of both
research efforts. Merck will not receive any funding for
participating in the projects.
Shares of the drug company were recently off 1.2% to $35.69
Monday, in line with a drop in the broader market. The stock is off
1.7% over the past 12 months.
-By Drew FitzGerald, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2909;
Andrew.FitzGerald@dowjones.com