In a move to protect the company’s dominant position in cancer, Merck said Thursday it will license a new cancer drug from Shanghai-based LaNova Medicines for $588 million upfront and up to 2 .7 billion dollars in potential milestone payments.

Cancer immunotherapy Keytruda, Merck’s the most important product and the world’s best-selling drug, with annual sales of $23 billion, will lose patent protection and face competition from generic drugmakers as early as 2028, and investors are already worried about what will happen in Merck when revenues from the drug will begin. to decline

“At Merck, we continue to assemble a strong and diverse oncology pipeline that encompasses differentiated mechanisms and multiple modalities,” Dean Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories, said in a statement. “This agreement adds to Merck’s growing oncology pipeline, and we look forward to rapidly and rigorously advancing LM-299 to patients in need.”

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