Merck KGaA nears $3.5bn deal for SpringWorks

Merck KGaA is in late-stage discussions to amass SpringWorks. Credit score: Anne Czichos through Getty Photos.

Merck KGaA is edging nearer to the SpringWorks deal, which was first rumoured in February, confirming late-stage negotiations at an estimated worth of $47 per share – doubtlessly valuing the deal at round $3.5bn.

The corporate confirmed in a 24 April assertion that whereas no closing, legally binding settlement has been established, the “events are in dialogue on the idea of a worth of round $47 per share.”

The information follows months of hypothesis. Market chatter round a possible acquisition started on 10 February 2025, when Reuters reported that Merck KGaA was exploring a deal. That very same day, the German pharma agency acknowledged the discussions, however cautioned that there was no assure of a transaction. Following the report, SpringWorks shares jumped 34%, pushing the corporate’s market capitalisation over $4bn. Merck KGaA’s CEO Belén Garijobut declined to offer updates on the deal through the firm’s full-year earnings press name in March, maintaining traders in suspense.

Shares in SpringWorks had been up by virtually 9% when the markets opened on 25 April, after the most recent growth.

A profitable acquisition would bolster Merck KGaA’s oncology portfolio with SpringWork’s pipeline of focused therapies. These embody Ogsiveo (nirogacestat), which is authorised for treating desmoid tumours, in addition to the MEK inhibitor Gomekli (mirdametinib), which was authorised in February 2025 for treating neurofibromatosis sort 1 (NF1), a uncommon genetic dysfunction.

In response to projections from GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Middle, Gomekli is projected to generate as much as $564m in world gross sales by 2030, whereas Ogsiveo gross sales are anticipated to achieve $1.2bn by the identical 12 months.

GlobalData is the dad or mum firm of Pharmaceutical Expertise.

Merck KGaA already has a robust oncology pipeline. Its top-selling product in 2024 was Erbitux (cetuximab), which generated €1.16bn ($1.25bn) in income. The drug is a monoclonal antibody used to deal with sure head and neck cancers, and colorectal most cancers.

Nonetheless, not all applications have been as profitable. In June 2024, Merck KGaA terminated the Part III TrilynX scientific trial of xevinapant after the drug did not considerably enhance survival in sufferers with regionally superior head and neck most cancers.

Moreover, Merck KGaA has confronted setbacks in its neurology pipeline, together with the discontinuation of BTK inhibitor evobrutinib in March 2024. The choice adopted two Part II trials in relapsing a number of sclerosis, the place the drug didn’t obtain a statistically vital discount in annual relapse charges in comparison with Sanofi’s Aubagio (teriflunomide). The programme had already come underneath scrutiny in April 2023, when the US Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) positioned a partial scientific maintain on a Part III examine after instances of liver harm had been reported.

Merck KGaA has continued to prioritise the enlargement of its oncology portfolio. Earlier in April 2025, the corporate signed a $1.4bn multi-year collaboration with Caris Life Sciences to entry novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets. Below the settlement, Caris will determine tumour-associated targets, which Merck KGaA will take into preclinical and scientific growth. Merck KGaA additionally has an inner ADC programme, with its lead candidate M9140 at the moment in Part I trials for colorectal most cancers.