Merck & Co., Inc. announced on April 17 that it will acquire, through a subsidiary, Prometheus Biosciences for $200.00 per share for a total equity value of approximately $10.8 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to Merck and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP as its legal advisors. Centerview Partners LLC and Goldman Sachs acted as financial advisors to Prometheus and Latham & Watkins LLP as the company’s legal advisor.
Prometheus Biosciences is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a precision medicine approach for the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutic and companion diagnostic products for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases. The company’s lead candidate, PRA023, is a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like ligand 1A (TL1A), a target associated with both intestinal inflammation and fibrosis.
Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. Merck is focused on the discovery, development, manufacturing and marketing of prescription medicines, biologic therapies, vaccines and animal health products.
This marks one of the largest healthcare deals of the year, second only to Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of Bothell, Washington-based Seagen, which specializes in working with antibody-drug conjugate technology. You can read more about that deal on the LevinPro HC platform HERE.
According to data captured in the LevinPro HC database, this acquisition represents the 41st Biotechnology deal of 2023. There were 31 Biotechnology deals announced between January 1, 2022, and April 17, 2022.
