Pharmaceutical Executive Daily: Merck Acquires SPR2015 in $2.13 Billion Licensing Deal

Welcome to Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, your quick briefing on the top news shaping the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry.

In today's Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, Merck licenses SciBrunch Therapeutics' preclinical KRAS G12D inhibitor SPR2015 in a deal worth up to $2.13 billion, FDA approves a trio of new therapies, Eli Lilly's Olumiant for pediatric alopecia areata, AbbVie's Juvmo for Parkinson's disease, and Incyte and Mirum's Atebrioz for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, and Matthew Montes de Oca argues that compounding pharmacies that set their own safety standards now stand the best chance of preserving patient access before heavier regulation arrives.

Merck has entered an exclusive license agreement with SciBrunch Therapeutics for global rights to SPR2015, an oral molecular glue inhibitor of the KRAS G12D mutation being developed for colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. The deal is worth up to $2.13 billion, including a $400 million upfront payment plus development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, for a still-preclinical candidate that has shown nanomolar activity and antitumor efficacy in KRAS G12D-mutant models.

FDA has approved three new therapies this week. Eli Lilly's Olumiant, a JAK inhibitor, gains an expanded indication for severe alopecia areata in patients 12 and older. Separately, AbbVie's Juvmo, a selective D1/D5 dopamine receptor agonist, is approved for adults with Parkinson's disease based on the Phase III Tempo program, and Incyte's Atebrioz, an ALK2 inhibitor commercialized by Mirum, is approved to reduce heterotopic ossification volume in patients 12 and older with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, backed by the Progress study.

Finally, Matthew Montes de Oca argues that compounding pharmacies that set their own safety and accreditation standards now, rather than waiting on government intervention, stand the best chance of preserving patient access as FDA scrutiny intensifies and a patchwork of state-level rules complicates compliance for multi-state operators. Montes de Oca contends that a small number of bad actors threaten the credibility of the broader sector, making proactive self-regulation the industry's best defense against heavier regulation.

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