Merck, Harpoon Therapeutics Agree to $680M Merger Deal

Merck & Co. disclosed its merger deal with Harpoon Therapeutics Inc. on Monday, Jan. 8. The total equity value of the acquisition agreement is $680 million.

Details of the Definitive Agreement

As per Reuters, the share price of the immuno-oncology company more than doubled in the pre-market after it was reported that Merck had offered $23 per share for the merger. This deal is set to boost the New Jersey-based pharma's oncology portfolio with immunotherapies.

In any case, it was reported that Evercore Group L.L.C. serves as Merck's financial advisor for this deal while it has hired Covington & Burling L.L.P. as its legal advisor. On the other hand, Harpoon's financial advisor was revealed to be Centerview Partners L.L.C., and Goodwin Procter L.L.P. has acted as its legal advisor.

Expected Completion of the Acquisition

It was learned that Harpoon's Board unanimously approved the deal of Directors. While the transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year, the merger is still subject to regulatory conditions, including stockholders' approval.

"At Merck, we continue to enhance our oncology pipeline through strategic acquisitions that complement our current portfolio and advance breakthrough science to help address the needs of people with cancer worldwide," Merck Research Laboratories' president, Dr. Dean Y. Li, said in a press release. "This agreement reflects the creativity and commitment of scientists and clinical development teams at Harpoon. We look forward to further evaluating HPN328 in innovative combinations with other pipeline candidates."

Harpoon Therapeutic's president and chief executive officer, Julie Eastland, further stated that Harpoon has always been "committed to advancing our cancer immunotherapy candidates to improve the lives of patients," thus, with Merck's well-known leadership in the field of oncology clinical development and global commercial footprint, the company's HPN328 is well positioned to advance.

She added, "The talented, passionate and dedicated Harpoon team has made great progress over the past eight years in leveraging our research platform to develop an innovative suite of candidates, and we are pleased that Merck has recognized the significant potential of our pipeline. I want to personally thank all of our key stakeholders, including our entire team at Harpoon, trial participants, physicians and our shareholders, who have supported us."

Photo by: Merck Media Library