Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), operating as MSD outside the US and Canada, and China-based InventisBio Co., Ltd. (SSE STAR: 688382) signed a collaboration agreement to jointly advance small molecule oncology drug candidates through clinical development, with MSD contributing its global R&D infrastructure through its China Innovation Collaboration Center (MCICC) and InventisBio providing oncology scientific expertise and development execution capabilities. No specific drug candidates, molecular targets, or trial identifiers were disclosed in the announcement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The collaboration is anchored in the MCICC, which MSD established in Beijing in 2024 as an open platform focused on early-stage, high-potential programs. The center has teams across Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Wuhan, and covers more than 20 cancer types within its oncology research portfolio, including several high-incidence cancers in China.
InventisBio brings an established track record in small-molecule precision oncology. The company originally discovered taletrectinib, a next-generation ROS1 inhibitor that has since progressed through global development and is now approved in the US, China and Japan for advanced ROS1-positive NSCLC. The drug is marketed as Ibtrozi in the US by Nuvation Bio, with Eisai holding development and commercialization rights across Europe and several additional markets. The firm's current small-molecule pipeline includes Phase III oral SERD taragarestrant (D-0502), while its earlier oncology portfolio includes WRN inhibitor YF087 and KIF18A inhibitor YF550.