Merck to buy Acceleron for about $11.5 billion in rare disease drugs push

[September 30, 2021]  (Reuters) - Merck & Co will buy drugmaker Acceleron Pharma Inc for about $11.5 billion, the companies said on Thursday, as the U.S. pharmaceutical giant looks to beef up its portfolio with drugs for rare diseases.

Merck will pay $180 per Acceleron share in cash, representing a premium of about 2.6% to the stock's closing price on Wednesday, according to Refinitiv data.

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Acceleron focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics to treat cardiovascular and other blood-related disorders.

The company is developing Sotatercept, which is currently in a late-stage study, to treat a rare cardiovascular disease called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a type of high blood pressure that affects the lungs.

Rare disease treatments is a lucrative market for drugmakers as they can charge more for these unique drugs. The PAH market is expected to grow at a 5% compound annual growth rate from 2019 to 2029 in the seven major markets, according to GlobalData, a data and analytics company.

In 2017, Johnson & Johnson bought Swiss biotech company Actelion and its pulmonary hypertension drugs in a $30 billion all-cash deal. Merck is also developing a treatment for the indication, which is currently in a mid-stage study. Along with Sotatercept, Merck will gain access to Reblozyl, which is approved for the treatment of two blood-related disorders, including anemia in patients with beta thalassemia.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi, Sriraj Kalluvila and Anil D'Silva)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content