BMO analyst Evan Seigerman said the LaNova deal offers a hedge to Merck after the data shown by Summit and others. "The company (Merck) still maintains the best-in-class PD-1 (in Keytruda) with a wall of clinical data and a rapidly advancing pipeline of ...

Merck & Co. licensed an experimental cancer antibody from a closely held Chinese company in a deal worth $588 million upfront, plus as much as $2.7 billion in milestone payments.

In a move to safeguard the company’s dominant position in cancer, Merck said Thursday it will license a new cancer drug from LaNova Medicines, a Shanghai-based firm, for $588 million upfront and as much as $2.7 billion in potential milestone payments.