NEW YORK, Feb. 21 - Isis Pharmaceuticals has struck a deal with Merck to provide the pharmaceutical giant with antisense tools for drug-target validation, the company said on Thursday.
Under the agreement, Merck will use Isis antisense techniques to probe the biological function of genes of interest, and ascertain their utility as potential drug targets.
The two companies have other collaborations: Isis licensed a type 2 diabetes drug candidate to Merck in 2001, and the two firms are partnering in a hepatitis C drug discovery program.