Archemix Corp. has added to its rapidly expanding list of alliances by signing a multiyear, multitarget agreement with Merck KGaA to discover and develop new aptamer-based treatments for cancer.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based Archemix will receive an up-front payment and research funding of up to $10 million, plus milestones and royalty payments for successful products. Specific financial terms were not disclosed. The company also may be involved in the co-promotion of products that come out of the collaboration. The partnership will focus on discovery, development and commercialization of first-in-class aptamer-based therapeutics.

Errol De Souza, president and CEO of Archemix, commented that Merck KGaA, based in Darmstadt, Germany, is a good partner because of its position in the oncology field. He also noted that "This alliance is the fourth major partnership we have formed over the past six months and is consistent with our strategy to enable partners to leverage aptamers as drugs on a target-by-target basis."

In July, Archemix penned a potential $350 million deal with Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, to develop up to three aptamer-based drugs against autoimmune inflammatory disease. The next month it signed a potential $54 million deal in a partnership with Nuvelo Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., for aptamer-based products in coagulation. In November, Archemix signed a licensing agreement with Ribomic Inc., of Tokyo, for use of an IgG aptamer for affinity purification uses. And just last week, Archemix signed on with Pfizer, of New York, to discover aptamers for disease-associated targets named by Pfizer.