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Merck Closes In On Acceleron But BMS And Anti-Trust Regulators Could Be Obstacles

Bidding War May Ensue

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

Biopharma M&A has had a quiet year so far but could heat up if rivals start vying for the biotech company.

Merck_New_Jersey
Merck & Co has enjoyed huge success with Keytruda, but needs to find ways to reduce its reliance on the blockbuster immunotherapy.

Merck & Co., Inc. is understood to be closing in on an $11bn deal to acquire Acceleron but pharma sector watchers are not ruling out a late bid from rival firms notably Bristol Myers Squibb.

A report from the Wall Street Journal on Monday identified Merck as the frontrunner in the race to acquire the Cambridge, MA based biotech company, rather than BMS as had originally been suggested in a Bloomberg article

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