$2.13 Billion! A Shanghai Biotech Signs Exclusive Global BD Deal with MSD

September 28, 2026, Shanghai SciBrunch Therapeutics Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as “SciBrunch”), and MSD(Merck & Co., Inc., headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey, USA, operates under the trade name Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) outside the United States and Canada) jointly announced today, The two parties have reached a global exclusive licensing agreement for the investigational preclinical oral KRAS G12D (ON) inhibitor SPR2015.

Dr. Hu Tao, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of SciBrunch, stated: “Since its inception, SciBrunch has remained dedicated to advancing the development of innovative therapies targeting the RAS pathway, striving to provide breakthrough treatment options for patients with pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and other major malignancies. This collaboration with MSD not only underscores SciBrunch’s R&D capabilities but also further highlights the potential of SPR2015 in addressing long-standing unmet medical needs in oncology. We look forward to MSD, a global leader in oncology, continuing to advance the development of SPR2015.”

Under the terms of the agreement, SciBrunch has granted MSD exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize SPR2015. SciBrunch will receive a $400 million upfront payment, and is eligible to receive specific milestone payments related to development, commercialization, and other activities associated with multiple indications. Including the upfront payment, The potential total value of this transaction could reach up to $2.13 billion. The transaction has officially taken effect.

George Addona, Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery, Preclinical Development, and Translational Medicine at Merck Research Laboratories, stated: “Growing evidence indicates that targeting the KRAS pathway holds significant therapeutic potential, and its role in tumor cell growth has been extensively studied. This collaboration incorporates SPR2015, a potent engineered inhibitor directed against one of the most common KRAS mutation types in human cancers, into our R&D pipeline, further enriching and expanding MSD's ongoing portfolio of precision-targeted candidate drugs.”

SPR2015 is a highly efficient and selective novel preclinical molecular glue KRAS G12D (ON) inhibitor, demonstrating nanomolar-level proliferation inhibitory activity in various KRAS G12D-mutant tumor cell lines while maintaining good selectivity for wild-type KRAS. KRAS G12D is the most common oncogenic RAS mutation in human tumors, caused by the substitution of glycine (G) with aspartic acid (D) at position 12. This mutation keeps KRAS in a continuously activated state, persistently transmitting signals that promote cell proliferation and survival. At the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, SciBrunch disclosed preclinical study results showing that SPR2015 exhibited significant anti-tumor activity as a monotherapy in various in vivo cell-derived and patient-derived xenograft (CDX/PDX) models.