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Merck Acquires Much Needed Diversification With $10.8bn Prometheus Buy

$200 Per Share Buyout Is 75% Premium

 
• By Mandy Jackson

Merck will reduce its dependence on oncology and expand in immunology, adding a Phase III-ready TL1A inhibitor for IBD that could reach the market a few years ahead of losing exclusivity for Keytruda.

Pain in human intestines, bowel concept
PRA023 will move into Phase III in ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in late 2023 or early 2024 • Source: Shutterstock

Merck & Co., Inc. has agreed to pay $10.8bn for Prometheus Biosciences, Inc. and its Phase III-ready TNF-like ligand 1A (TL1A) inhibitor PRA023, which showed promising efficacy in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) indications late last year. The deal gives Merck a potential blockbuster immunology asset that may help it make up for some of the revenue it will lose at the end of this decade after its top-selling product Keytruda (pembrolizumab) loses exclusivity.

Analysts cheered the deal, announced 16 April, despite the high price tag, as a means of diversifying the big pharma’s portfolio beyond Keytruda specifically and oncology generally

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