08:02 AM EDT, 09/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Evaxion Biotech (EVAX) said Thursday it out-licensed its vaccine candidate EVX-B3 to Merck ( MRK ) in accord with a deal between the companies finalized last year.

Evaxion ( EVAX ) said it will receive an immediate cash payment of $7.5 million and be eligible for future development, regulatory, and sales milestone payments of up to $592 million, as well as royalties on net sales.

Merck ( MRK ) will assume responsibility and further advancement of the vaccine. EVX-B3 is currently in preclinical development and targets a pathogen associated with repeated infections, for which there currently is no vaccine, the company said.

The cash payment extends Evaxion's ( EVAX ) cash runway into H1 of 2027, the company said.

Evaxion ( EVAX ) said it and Merck ( MRK ) have also agreed to extend the evaluation period for its preclinical gonorrhea vaccine candidate EVX-B2, with a decision on potential in-licensing now expected in H1 of 2026.

Shares of Evaxion ( EVAX ) were up 42% in recent premarket activity.