It’s “Full Speed Ahead” For Merck In HCV After $3.85B Idenix Buyout

The company expects to come charging out of the gate with a three-drug combo therapy for hepatitis C now that it has acquired a nucleotide analog to round out its portfolio. Merck is undeterred by the risks associated with the deal.

Any notion that deal-making is dead in hepatitis C was proved false when Merck & Co. Inc. revealed June 9 it will pay $3.85 billion for Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its portfolio of nucleoside prodrugs. It’s a risky deal in a highly competitive field of drug development where the long-term commercial opportunity remains uncertain.

“We’re moving full-speed ahead,” said Merck’s VP of Infectious Disease Eliav Barr in an interview, indicating the companies are already...

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