Pharmaceutical behemoth Merck said on Sunday that it has paid over $11 billion for the California-based biotech firm Prometheus Biosciences.
According to the two businesses’ “definitive agreement, Merck has agreed to purchase Prometheus via a subsidiary for $200.00 per share in cash for a total equity value of roughly $10.8 billion,” according to a statement from Merck.
As of Friday’s closing of the New York Stock Exchange, Prometheus’ share price was $114.01.
The business is creating PRA023, a medication for autoimmune conditions such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.
According to the release, Merck Chairman and CEO Robert Davis stated, “The partnership with Prometheus will accelerate our increasing footprint in immunology where there is a significant unmet patient need.”
The deal broadens Merck’s holdings and will support the company’s “expansion far into the next decade,” he said.
Due in part to high sales of its cancer medications and despite a fall in the price of its anti-Covid therapy molnupiravir, Merck’s financial performance in the fourth quarter of 2022 were better than anticipated.
Sales at the business, known as MSD outside of the US and Canada, were $13.8 billion from September to December, an increase of 2% over the same period last year.
