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.
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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.
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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.