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Merck & Co. is said to be in advanced talks for the acquisition of Seagen, a biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative, empowered monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Fox Business reported that the acquisition deal could be valued at almost $40 billion. The amount could be more as the share price for Seagen is above $200 per share. The deal will help Merck & Co. with its expansion efforts as it adds a new acquisition to its cancer drug portfolio.
Currently, Merck’s highest-selling product is its Keytruda immunotherapy drug. The Rahway, New Jersey pharmaceutical company said that this drug accounted for $17.2 billion worth of its sales last year. As for Seagen, some of its best-selling products include Adcetris, which gathered total sales of $1.4 billion last year.
In any case, while Merck and Seagen are already in the advanced stage of negotiations, it was noted that there is still no assurance that they will be reaching an agreement for the sale of the latter.
Moreover, it was mentioned that any proposed deal in this negotiation is also expected to draw a close look from antitrust regulators. Both Merck and Seagen are still hoping to finally sign an agreement on or before Merck announces its second fiscal-quarter earnings, which has been scheduled for July 28.
Reuters reached out to Merck for comments regarding the acquisition reports, but it was not able to respond to the request immediately. On the other hand, Seagen was said to have declined to comment.
As of Wednesday, July 6, the companies are still discussing a price above $200 per share, and on that day, its closing share price was actually $175. It was added that Seagen has a market capitalization of $32.24 billion based on the records from Refinitiv data.
Meanwhile, industry observers believe that it will make sense if Merck & Co. is able to close its deal with Seagen for $250 or below. This is because this acquisition will definitely boost the company’s business and strengthen its portfolio through the latter’s exclusive cancer immunotherapy drug, Keytruda.
