Merrion, Novo Nordisk enter Collaboration and Option agreement for GIPET technology

Merrion Pharmaceuticals Plc, a publicly listed product development company, today announced the signing of a Collaboration and Option agreement with Novo Nordisk. The agreement will evaluate the ability of Merrion's patented GIPET® technology to boost the oral bioavailability of an undisclosed proprietary compound.

Following the feasibility studies, Novo Nordisk will have the option to enter into a further licensing agreement for Merrion's GIPET technology. The financial terms of a possible future licensing agreement have been pre-agreed.

As part of the agreement Merrion has granted Novo Nordisk a warrant to acquire ordinary shares of up to €1,500,000 in Merrion at yesterday's closing share price (€3.00). The warrant will be exercisable for 20 business days commencing on the day following the signing of a license agreement.

Merrion can request Novo Nordisk to acquire up to €500,000 worth of shares in Merrion at yesterday's closing share price (€3.00) exercisable for 20 business days commencing on the day following the signing of a license agreement.

Commenting on the announcement, John Lynch, CEO, Merrion Pharmaceuticals, said, "We are very pleased to be entering into another agreement with Novo Nordisk with our unique GIPET technology. This agreement further strengthens the links between the two companies following the license agreements for oral GLP-1 and Insulin respectively. This, along with the other recently announced agreements with Rebel and a top 10 pharma company, means that Merrion has an additional 6 compounds in its preclinical pipeline."

Merrion's patented drug delivery technology, GIPET®, is supported by a large database reflecting 10 years' research and development by drug delivery experts and 21 clinical studies conducted on a broad range of drug types. In a database comprising more than 40 compounds, GIPET has shown the ability to improve absorption by as much as 200 times, achieving excellent intersubject reproducibility and with a positive safety database. This includes traditional small molecules as well as biopharmaceutical peptides and proteins, making GIPET a platform technology with broad applicability. Merrion's technology is endorsed through collaborations with pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk (oral Insulin, oral GLP-1), Ferring Pharmaceuticals and others.