Iomai Corporation (Nasdaq: IOMI) today announced it has inked an agreement with Merck & Co. Inc. to conduct proof-of-principle preclinical studies regarding the company’s Iomai needle-free immunostimulant patch. Per the agreement, Merck will have the option to negotiate an exclusive license. The preclinical studies will utilize an undisclosed Merck vaccine.

“This agreement with Merck allows us to further evaluate the possible applications of our patch,” Stanley C. Erck, president and chief executive officer of Iomai, stated in the press release. “Our immunostimulant patch has the potential to improve the immune response to a wide variety of vaccines, allowing for more effective vaccines, or vaccines that work at a lower dose.”

Iomai uses TCI to administer the potent adjuvant, a skin patch that is placed over the site of the injected vaccine. The adjuvant then passes into the skin, targeting Langerhans cells, which transport the adjuvant to the lymph nodes, where it works to enhance the host’s immune response to the vaccine.

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