ALBO vs MRK

Albireo Pharma Inc.

Albireo Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the development and commercialization of novel bile acid modulators to treat orphan pediatric liver diseases and other liver or gastrointestinal diseases and disorders. Its lead product candidate is odevixibat, an ileal bile acid transporter (IBAT) inhibitor that is in phase III clinical trial for treating patients with progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis, as well as for treating biliary atresia, alagille syndrome, and other cholestatic liver diseases. The company is also developing Elobixibat for the treatment of chronic constipation and other functional diseases, and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. It has a license agreement with EA Pharma Co., Ltd. for the development and commercialization of elobixibat. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

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.