NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - Clinical Data said today it has paid out 135,146 of its shares to Merck KGaA as a milestone payment after successfully completing a Phase III study of the German firm’s Vilazodone drug.

Clinical Data’s shares closed most recently at $24.22.

Clinical Data acquired the rights to antidepressant Vilazodone in 2004 and is developing the drug along with a genetic test that will help doctors match patients with a treatment that is most likely to work in the first instance.