Scancell Holdings PLC. (SCNLF)

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IS SCANCELL ABOUT TO LICENCE ITS LUNG CANCER VACCINE TO MERCK SERONO?

Background to a potential SCIB2 licensing deal
Most relevant to speculation that Merck Serono may conclude a licensing deal for Scancell's lung cancer vaccine SCIB2 is the fact that it already has an option to negotiate an exclusive license under Scancell's ImmunoBody® platform technology for up to five Merck Serono targets. Although this does not formally include SCIB2, we are told by Scancell that this vaccine is now ready for further development and that the company expects "that this work will be undertaken by a licensing partner."

So what other reasons put Merck Serono in the frame as a potential licensing partner for Scancell's SCIB2 lung cancer vaccine?


Merck Serono may seek to replace what's missing
In December Merck Serono's own lung cancer vaccine failed in Phase 3. L-BLP25, licensed from Oncothyreon, like Scancell's SCIB2 was targeted at non-small cell lung cancer. So Merck is missing a vaccine for which SCIB2 seems the ideal replacement.


Merck Serono's 'secret' holding
It may be news to some but as of December 31st 2011, Merck Serono has 1,808,566 shares in Scancell Holdings. So what might this mean? Well Merck held 4.11% of F-Star and then signed a research, license and commercialization agreement with the Austrian firm. It owned 4.9% of Ambrx and last year struck a development and commercialization deal with the company for its biotherapeutic drug conjugates. Now in case the more numerate reader notes that Merck's stake in Scancell represents just 0.93% it might be apposite to point out that Merck held merely 0.75% of Oncothyreon before and after it struck a licensing deal for its ill fated lung cancer vaccine, L-BLP25!