BLCM vs MRK

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing novel cellular immunotherapies for the treatment of hematological cancers and solid tumors in the United States and internationally. The company's clinical product candidates include BPX-601, an autologous GoCAR-T product candidate, which is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumors expressing the prostate stem cell antigen; and BPX-603, a dual-switch GoCAR-T product candidate that is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials to treat solid tumors that express the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 antigens. Its clinical product candidates also include Rivo-cel, an allogeneic T cell product candidate intended to enhance outcomes when administered after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of hematologic malignancies and inherited blood disorders. It has collaboration and license agreements with Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc; Agensys, Inc.; BioVec Pharma, Inc.; ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Baylor College of Medicine. Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Houston, Texas.

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.