Halozyme Therapeutics Inc (HALO)

[easycomeandgo]

To a dilettante, this Merck situation seems to be the following, without expressing any opinion on intellectual property questions - which are too arcane for dilettantes. When Halozyme was hoping to have a fix for pancreatic cancer, it had a collaboration agreement with Merck. When the hoped for results were not achieved, Merck seems to have dropped Halozyme like a bad habit. Now, Keytruda and Roche’s Tecentriq are competing drugs. Roche has licensed the Enhanze technology for their Tecentriq subcutaneous formulation and, though I haven’t checked, I am quite sure that they have exclusivity described in their agreement in such a way that Enhanze is not available for Keytruda. It is seems logical that Merck should seek other solutions for a subcutaneous Keytruda formulation. How this is possible from a patent perspective and where is beyond my ability to answer. Further, it is no secret that the Enhanze patent by itself is long in the tooth. How, when and where co-formulation patents are available solutions is also beyond my pay grade. That is what attorneys are for.