Acceleron Pharma, Inc.

Merck & Co. is looking to buy Verona Pharma for around $10 billion as it continues to seek ways to plug the looming revenue hole from upcoming patent expiration on its key cancer drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab). A deal for Verona would give Merck the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medicine Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine), which since FDA approval last year has got off to a strong launch.According to a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday, Merck and Verona are in advanced talks over an agreement priced at $107 per share — a 23% premium to the latter's closing price on July 8. Sources cited by the newspaper suggested that a deal could be announced imminently.Ohtuvayre is authorised for the maintenance treatment of COPD in adults, with the dual PDE3/4 inhibitor generating sales of $71.3 million in the first quarter of this year, far surpassing estimates. At the time the three-month results were announced, analysts at Jefferies said "we are witnessing the strongest COPD launch in history."The inhaled therapy, which is administered directly to the lungs via a standard jet nebuliser, is also being developed for other lung conditions, including asthma and cystic fibrosis. Analysts predict that the product could eventually generate peak annual sales of nearly $4 billion.The acquisition of Verona would boost Merck's respiratory franchise following last year's approval in the US and EU of the pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy Winrevair (sotatercept-csrk). The activin signalling inhibitor came into Merck's hands via the $11.5-billion purchase of Acceleron Pharma in 2021.

Merck & Co. has agreed to pay $10 billion to buy London-based Verona Pharma, scooping up a potential multibillion-dollar new drug to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a deal announced Wednesday.The Food and Drug Administration approved Veronas Ohtuvayre in June 2024 for maintenance treatment of COPD in adults. Its the first inhaled treatment for the condition in more than 20 years to work in a new way, combining bronchodilator and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory effects.Sales of the medicine jumped to $71 million in the first quarter this year, putting it on track for the strongest COPD launch in history, Jefferies analyst Andrew Tsai said. He recently raised his peak sales estimate for Ohtuvayre to $4 billion, a figure that tops the $3 billion to $3.5 billion implied by the Merck transaction and one that may still be too conservative, Tsai said in a note to clients Wednesday.Since launching Ohtuvayre in August 2024 we have seen rapid and accelerating uptake in the U.S., Verona CEO David Zaccardelli said in a joint statement with Merck on Wednesday. We believe Mercks commercial footprint and industry-leading clinical capabilities will help accelerate the potential of Ohtuvayre to reach more patients.In a presentation for investors, Merck said the drug strengthens its growing cardio-pulmonary portfolio and will offer both near-term and long-term revenue growth. Verona already has a range of studies underway testing the main ingredient, ensifentrine, in other conditions such as asthma, cystic fibrosis and non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.Merck CEO Rob Davis has been on the lookout for acquisitions in the $10 billion to $15 billion range as he prepares the company to lose patent protection on its top-selling Keytruda cancer drug. In 2021, Merck agreed to pay $11.5 billion for Acceleron Pharma. In 2023, the New Jersey-based company scooped up Prometheus Biosciences for $10.8 billion.The deal represents the second-biggest acquisition of a biotechnology company this year, after Johnson & Johnsons $14.6 billion purchase of Intra-Cellular Therapies, according to data tracked by BioPharma Dive. It follows on the heels of Sanofis agreement in June to buy Blueprint Medicines for as much as $9.5 billion.Outside of the J&J and Sanofi acquisitions, its been a relatively quiet year in biotech acquisitions as companies adjusted to the economic and regulatory uncertainty that came along with the Trump administration. The Sanofi and Merck deals, coming in rapid succession, may suggest more openness to big deals in the industry.Merck and Verona expect their transaction to close in the fourth quarter. Tsai said he doesnt expect any risks to the deal from antitrust regulators at the Federal Trade Commission. Veronas American depositary receipts jumped 21% to above $104 in early trading Wednesday, close to the proposed purchase price of $107. '

iStock, Dmitrii_Guzhanin In the second biggest acquisition of the year, Merck gains the commercial COPD drug Ohtuvayre, which could help offset the loss of revenue when Keytruda’s patent expires later this decade. Merck is dropping $10 billion to acquire Verona Pharma and its commercial chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drug Ohtuvayre in a move that builds out the Big Pharma’s respiratory pipeline and shores up its revenues ahead of Keytruda’s impending loss of exclusivity. “The decision to acquire Verona clearly reflects a management’s intent to work to replace commercial revenues now, ahead of Keytruda’s upcoming [loss of patent exclusivity] in the back half of the decade,” analysts at BMO Capital Markets told investors in a Wednesday note. Under the terms of Wednesday’s acquisition, Merck will pay $107 for each of Verona’s American Depository Share, each of which represents eight ordinary shares of the company, for a total transaction value of approximately $10 billion. Boards of both companies have unanimously signed off on the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, pending antitrust and regulatory clearances as well as other customary conditions. The $10 billion price tag makes the Verona acquisition the second largest M&A deal of the year , only trailing Johnson & Johnson’s buy of Intra-Cellular in January . The Verona buy brings into the Merck fold an already-approved asset in Ohtuvayre. The drug “could immediately add to Merck’s top line,” BMO said, noting that estimates put 2025 sales for Ohtuvayre at around $400 million, with peak sales forecasts reaching some $3.4 billion. The FDA cleared Ohtuvayre in June last year as a maintenance COPD treatment. In the first quarter, Verona estimates it filled some 25,000 prescriptions for the drug, recording $71.3 million in sales. Ohtuvayre will help Merck continue to evolve its respiratory portfolio, which recently saw a potentially big-ticket approval: the respiratory syncytial virus antibody Enflonsia last month. Within two weeks of its approval, Enflonsia scored a recommendation from the CDC’s vaccine advisory council for children less than eight months old who weren’t protected by maternal antibodies. Ahead of Keytruda losing key patent protections in 2028 , Merck in recent years has gone on a shopping spree, snapping up subsidiaries. In April 2023, for instance, the pharma shelled out $10.8 billion to take over Prometheus Biosciences, gaining a pipeline of therapies for inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases. A few years earlier, in September 2021, Merck dropped $11 billion to buy rare disease player Acceleron Pharma. The Big Pharma has also secured some smaller buys. In November 2022, Merck dished out $1.36 billion to acquire Imago Biosciences and its collection of therapies for bone marrow malignancies. And in May last year, the pharma bought EyeBio for up to $3 billion , making its comeback in the ophthalmology space after divesting from that area in the U.S., Japan and some European markets in 2013 and 2014.