MRK vs PIRS

Merck & Company Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health segments. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, diabetes, and women's health, as well as vaccine products. The Animal Health segment provides discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as a suite of digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. The company has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; Eisai Co., Ltd.; and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. It serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, and other institutions; and physicians and physician distributors, veterinarians, and animal producers. The company has collaboration agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize long-acting investigational treatment combinations of Lenacapavir and Islatravir in HIV; Amathus Therapeutics to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases; and Linnaeus Therapeutics, Inc. to evaluate LNS8801 in combination with KEYTRUDA for patients with advanced cancer. It also has a collaboration with Biomed X Gmbh for building on ongoing research projects in the fields of oncology (DNA damage response and RNA splicing) and autoimmunity (intestinal epithelial barrier in autoimmune diseases); and a collaboration agreement with NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. to focus primarily on the development of novel medicines for unmet patient needs in retinal and CVM diseases, including heart failure. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.

Pieris Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers and develops anticalin protein-based drugs in the United States. The company develops anticalin proteins that are low molecular-weight therapeutic proteins derived from lipocalins, which are naturally occurring low-molecular weight human proteins found in human blood plasma and other bodily fluids. Its lead respiratory Anticalin-based drug candidate includes PRS-060/AZD1402, a drug candidate that is in Phase II clinical trial targeting IL-4Ra for the treatment of asthma and other inflammatory diseases; and lead immune-oncology program comprises Cinrebafusp alfa, a 4-1BB/ HER2 bispecific for the treatment of HER2-expressing solid tumors. The company also develops PRS-344, a bispecific anticalin-antibody fusion protein targeting 4-1BB and PD-L1 for immuno-oncology diseases; and PRS-352, a preclinical-stage program addressing undisclosed targets for immuno-oncology diseases. It has a license and collaboration agreement with Les Laboratoires Servier and Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier, AstraZeneca AB, and Seagen Inc.; and license agreements with Technical University of Munich, Enumeral Biomedical Holdings, Inc., and Sichuan Kelun-Biotech Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. The company also has a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Eli Lilly and Company. Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.