Originally developed by Hermes BioSciences, MM-398, was acquired by Merrimack in 2009.
The tie up allows Merrimack to develop and commercialize MM-398 in all territories of the world except Taiwan.
Under the terms of the agreement, Merrimack and PharmaEngine will collaborate on the development of MM-398.
Merrimack is responsible to pay a sum of $10m as an upfront payment to PharmaEngine in addition to $210m upon achievement of certain development, regulatory and sales milestones as well as tiered royalties on sales of MM-398 in Europe and Asia.
Merrimack president and CEO Robert Mulroy said they believe that unifying the development strategy of MM-398 is critical as they plan to move the program forward into late stage clinical trials in indications like gemcitabine-refractory pancreatic cancer where patients have very limited options.