The pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is back with a new deal, acquiring Pandion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAND) for $1.85 billion, or $60 per share in cash, a 134% premium to the prior day’s closing price. Pandion Therapeutics is developing novel therapeutics designed to address the unmet needs of patients living with autoimmune diseases. Pandion’s TALON (Therapeutic Autoimmune reguLatOry proteiN) drug design and discovery platform enable the company to create a pipeline of product candidates using immunomodulatory effector modules.
In 2020, the company generated approximately $10.5 million in revenue, but reported a loss in EBITDA of approximately $43.2 million.
Merck is acquiring Pandion through a subsidiary and will bolster the company’s pipeline of autoimmune diseases. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021.
This is not the first deal from Merck focused on autoimmune diseases and products. In late November, Merck purchased OncoImmune, a privately-held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is actively engaged in the discovery and development of novel biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. Around the time of the deal, OncoImmune announced positive top-line findings from a Phase 3 study evaluating its lead therapeutic candidate CD24Fc for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
The autoimmune market seems to be highly competitive and smaller competitors are sought after for many players to gain an edge. According to a report from Allied Analytics LLP, the global autoimmune disease therapeutics market is expected to reach $153 billion by 2025. The most recent deal in this field was announced at the beginning of the month. Horizon Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: HZNP) acquired Viela Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel treatments for autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases. The deal was valued at $3.05 billion, and the addition of Viela Bio bolsters Horizon Therapeutics’ commercial rare disease medicine portfolio.
