Calla Lily Clinical Care and Merck Announce Strategic Collaboration to Advance Intravaginal Drug Delivery Platform

• Enhancing patient treatment experience and care with a new self-administered solution for vaginal therapeutics
• Versatile platform technology developed from a safe, award-winning, FDA-cleared medical device
• Strategic collaboration supporting the continued development of a novel intravaginal drug delivery approach to address unmet needs in women’s health

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Calla Lily Clinical Care, a women’s health-focused medical technology company, and Merck, a leading science and technology company, have entered a strategic collaboration to support the continued development of Callavid^®, a novel platform for intravaginal drug delivery. The collaboration represents the first industry partnership for the Callavid technology.

Callavid is a transformational leak-resistant medical device designed to address challenges associated with the self-administration of vaginal therapeutics. Administration via the vaginal route can be associated with increased patient anxiety related to positioning, dosing accuracy, and concerns around leakage, particularly for certain therapeutics used in fertility treatments, oncology, and hormone therapies.

Developed by the team at Calla Lily Clinical Care, Callavid’s patented leak-free design delivers vaginal therapeutics using a small, tampon-shaped device combined with an integrated absorbent liner. Callavid is designed for hygienic insertion, remains in place during drug absorption, and can be easily and cleanly removed. By supporting more consistent drug delivery and reducing concerns around leakage and positioning, Callavid is uniquely designed to improve the overall patient experience when administering vaginal medications.

Thang Vo-Ta, Co-founder and CEO of Calla Lily Clinical Care, commented: “This collaboration with Merck marks an important milestone in the development of Callavid, our novel vaginal drug delivery platform. Merck’s scientific heritage and forward-looking approach to innovation make them an ideal partner as we work to address long-standing unmet needs in women’s health. By improving how vaginal therapeutics are delivered and experienced, Callavid has the potential to enhance both patient outcomes and quality of life. We see this collaboration as a meaningful step toward translating our technology into real-world clinical and patient impact.”

Dr Lara Zibners, Co-founder and Chairman of Calla Lily Clinical Care, said: “Our initial engagement with Merck through the Merck Innovation Challenge in October 2024 was an important moment of alignment around the need for more patient-centric innovation in women’s health. As both a clinician and a patient, I have seen how profoundly drug delivery can shape treatment experience. This collaboration builds on that early dialogue and reflects a shared interest in rigorously exploring new approaches that may improve how therapies are delivered and experienced by patients.”

About Calla Lily Clinical Care www.callali.ly/

Calla Lily Clinical Care is an ambitious women’s health focused company that has developed the proprietary Callavid^® platform for intravaginal drug delivery. Callavid is adaptable to a wide range of therapeutics, with initial target indications in fertility and pregnancy, where the Company seeks to offer the world’s first drug-device combination product to prevent threatened miscarriage and for IVF luteal phase support. The device is also capable of delivering therapeutics for oncology, menopause, infectious diseases, and live biotherapeutics to reduce repeated antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). For pharmaceutical partners, Callavid offers a differentiated drug delivery modality for pipeline drugs, and a means of extending the lifecycle of established assets, including off-patent therapeutics. The Company is a certified B-Corp.

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Lily Jeffery

lily.jeffery@zymecommunications.com