Merck & Co., Inc., known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, will acquire Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $53.00 per share in cash for an approximate equity value of $6.7 billion.
Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinical-stage oncology company based in San Mateo, California. Terns’ lead program, TERN-701, is a highly selective, oral, allosteric BCR:ABL1 inhibitor with a potentially best-in-disease profile that could meaningfully improve upon the efficacy, safety and convenience of existing treatments for chronic myeloid leukemia.
Merck 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. According to its latest annual report, Merck’s revenue during full year (FY) 2025 was approximately $65 billion, and FY 2025 EBITDA was $27.9 billion.
The transaction has been approved by both Merck’s and Terns’ Boards of Directors. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Terns. The acquisition is subject to a majority of Terns’ stockholders tendering their shares in a tender offer that will be initiated by a subsidiary of Merck. The transaction is expected to be accounted for as an asset acquisition and close in the second quarter of 2026. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
According to data captured in the LevinPro HC database, this deal marks the 29th Biotechnology acquisition of the year. This also represents the second largest Biotechnology deal by purchase price announced since January 1, 2026. The largest deal by purchase price announced in the specialty this year is Gilead’s $7.8 billion acquisition of Arcellx, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on delivering a new class of immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases. Gilead announced that deal in February 2026. There were 136 Biotechnology acquisitions reported in 2025, and 139 announced in 2024.
