Merck made the biopharma industry’s second-largest deal of 2021 when it acquired Acceleron for $11.5 billion. Last year, Merck’s $10.8 billion buyout of Prometheus was the third-largest in the industry.
NEW ORLEANS — Merck says sotatercept, Acceleron’s lead drug before the Big Pharma bought it for $11.5 billion, significantly improved scores on an exercise test in a pivotal trial for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Now, Merck is working toward an FDA filing for what it hopes can one day be a blockbuster drug.
Merck & Co.’s big bet on sotatercept looks set to start paying off as the TGF-beta ligand trap succeeded in the Phase III STELLAR trial to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), the first of four pivotal studies that could change prescribing patterns in pulmonary hypertension and will render judgment on the US drugmaker’s $11.5-billion buyout of Acceleron Pharma.
A year after dolling out $11.5 billion to buy Acceleron Pharma, Merck is experiencing the first taste of potential from one of the drugs it acquired in the process—and it’s sweet.
Scholar Rock has gone longer without a permanent CEO than their last hire was in the position—by almost two months. But that’s changing, with the biotech landing a new executive to lead its rebounding strategy.
The FDA is back to warning companies of $10,000 fines for failing to report the results of clinical trials, this time going after clinical stage biotech company Ocugen, known most recently for trying to bring a Covid-19 vaccine from India to the US and other markets.
In November 2021, Merck completed its acquisition of Acceleron Pharma for about $11.5 billion. As is often the case with mergers and acquisitions, jobs get cut because of duplications. In this case, Merck announced that it will lay off 170 people from the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Acceleron.
Merck has gathered 63.3% of Acceleron’s outstanding shares, more than the 50% it needed to close the buyout, the New Jersey pharma said Friday.
KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD noutside the United States and Canada, today announced the successful ncompletion of the cash tender offer, through a subsidiary, Astros MergernSub, Inc., for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of nAcceleron Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: XLRN), at a purchase price of $180 per nshare in cash, without interest and less applicable tax withholding. As nof the tender offer expiration at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on Nov. 19, n2021, 38,752,614 shares of common stock of Acceleron were validly ntendered and not withdrawn from the tender offer, representing napproximately 63.3% of the total number of Acceleron's outstanding nshares. All such shares have been accepted for payment in accordance nwith the terms of the tender offer, and Astros Merger Sub, Inc. expects nto promptly pay for such shares.
KENILWORTH, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the successful completion of the cash tender offer, through a subsidiary, Astros Merger Sub, Inc., for all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Acceleron Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq: XLRN), at a purchase price of $180 per share in cash, without interest and less applicable tax withholding. As of the tender offer expiration at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on Nov. 19, 2021, 38,752,614 shares of common stock of Acceleron were validly tendered and not withdrawn from the tender offer, representing approximately 63.3% of the total number of Acceleron’s outstanding shares. All such shares have been accepted for payment in accordance with the terms of the tender offer, and Astros Merger Sub, Inc. expects to promptly pay for such shares.