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# Merck, Harvard Collaborate on Leukemia Therapeutics
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/merck-harvard-collaborate-on-leukemia-therapeutics/
- Published: 2016-03-21T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T20:50:13.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5135141

> Merck has agreed to pay Harvard University $20 million under an exclusive license and research collaboration agreement with Merck to further develop small-molecule therapeutics for leukemia and other cancers. The novel compounds, developed in the laboratory of Harvard scientist Matthew Shair, offer an innovative approach to cancer treatment by targeting enzymes that regulate transcription, a [university release](http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/03/collaboration-to-develop-cancer-therapeutics/?ref=fdaweb.com) says.  
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> Supported by Harvard’s Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, Shair’s laboratory “developed highly selective and potent small molecules, with favorable pharmaceutical properties, that are now poised for advancement toward clinical trials,” the university says. “Merck will take over development of the candidate therapeutics and will engage in a research collaboration with the Shair laboratory to further investigate the biology of transcriptional regulator enzymes.”