- Merck & Co. will buy Prometheus Biosciences Inc. for about $10.8 billion to bolster its research pipeline and strengthen its portfolio of autoimmune drugs. The agreement to buy the biotech company, one of the largest pharma deals in recent history, comes as Merck’s blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda faces a looming patent cliff. Merck has been on the hunt for deals that can protect it from revenue loss when Keytruda loses patent protection later this decade. And Prometheus has a promising portfolio attracting attention in the immunology sector, including a monoclonal antibody treatment for inflammatory bowel disease that showed positive results in December. (Article here)
April 17, 2023
M&A | Tea Leaves