Merck USA (MSD) acquires Phase 2 biotech for US$ 10.8 Bln.April 16 (Reuters) - Merck & Co has agreed to acquire Prometheus Biosciences Inc. for about $10.8 billion to bolster the company's presence in immunology, the companies said on Sunday, which further supports the long-standing position that Big Pharma is seeking to acquire "bolt-on" assets that average around US$10 Billion for 2023, at a time when Big Pharma is facing an omenus patent cliff that will mainly be addressed by further M&A activities, as outlined in my earlier posts.
And as earlier posted on the US$28 Bilion "bolt-on" acquistion of Horizon by Amgen, the FTC will continue to have capacity issues which may preclude this as well as Pfizer's US$43 Billion proposed acquition of Seagen from closing in a timely fashion, if at all, as seen with Illumina's attempt at taking over Grail.
Conseqquently, Big Pharma will be increasingly moving on Phase 2 biotech assets in the US$ 10 -15 Billion range, as witnessed by Merck's announced acquisition of Prometheus Biosciences, thus making ONCY's Phase 3 ready pelareorep a well positioned biotech asset for a similar take-over in this referenced acquisition valuation range.
Thus Pfizer remains remains an interested player for what ONCY has to offer.
https://www.prometheusbiosciences.com/pipeline/
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/merck-late-stage-talks-acquire-prometheus-biosciences-wsj-2023-04-16/