Japanese drug-discovery company PeptiDream Inc said on Friday it would collaborate with Merck & Co in developing COVID-19 therapies.

The companies will work to develop peptide therapeutics that may be effective against multiple coronavirus strains, they said in a release. The agreement builds on a research and licensing partnership announced in 2015.

PeptiDream specialises in constrained peptides, types of amino acids that can carry various cargoes to specific types of cells.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)