Massachusetts-based biotech Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, has re-acquired most of the international rights to the cancer drug, MM-398, which had been licensed out to Taiwan-based PharmaEngine, according to FierceBiotech.

In exchange for a $10 million upfront and the promise of up to $210 million more in milestones, Merrimack acquired the marketing rights to the drug in Europe and all of Asia, with the exception of Taiwan. 

"We believe that unifying the development strategy of MM-398 is critical as we plan to move the program forward into late stage clinical trials in indications like gemcitabine-refractory pancreatic cancer where patients have very limited options," said Robert Mulroy, the CEO of Merrimack. "The PharmaEngine team has laid a great foundation for phase III development and commercialization by conducting clinical trials across multiple indications and we look forward to working aggressively with them to bring this product to market."