Merck & Co. has agreed to license a potential cancer treatment from SciBrunch Therapeutics in a deal that could be worth more than $2 billion to the privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company.

Merck on Monday said the agreement gives the Rahway, N.J., drugmaker exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize SPR2015, an engineered inhibitor for one of the most prevalent mutant forms of the KRAS gene found in human cancers.

Merck said it is making a $400 million upfront payment to China-based SciBrunch, which is also eligible to receive milestone payments associated to development, commercialization and other activities across multiple indications that could bring the total potential value of the transaction to $2.13 billion.

The SciBrunch deal is Merck's latest move to bolster its pipeline as it braces for the loss of patent protection for its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda in 2028.

Merck in May completed its nearly $6 billion acquisition of cancer biotech Terns Pharmaceuticals and its promising leukemia treatment, and the company in January wrapped up its $9.2 billion purchase of Cidara Therapeutics, a biotech making a new flu prevention drug.

Merck said it will record a pretax charge of $400 million, or about 13 cents a share, in the third quarter related to the SciBrunch transaction, which has closed.