Germany's Merck in advanced talks to acquire US biotech firm Springworks

SpringWorks Therapeutics

10/02/2025 20:38

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      Merck confirms advanced talks to buy Springworks
    

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      Confirms earlier Reuters story saying deal could come in
weeks
    

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      Springworks' shares hit highest level since April 2022
    

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      U.S. company has market value of around $4 billion  
    

  
 (Adds Merck's statement in paragraph 2, updates share reaction
in paragraphs 4 and 5)
    By Sabrina Valle and Patricia Weiss
       NEW YORK/FRANKFURT, Feb 10 (Reuters) - 
    Merck KGaA  MRCG.DE , the German healthcare and technology
group, is in advanced talks to acquire U.S. cancer and rare
diseases drugmaker Springworks Therapeutics  SWTX.O , according
to people familiar with the matter.
  
        In a statement later on Monday, Merck confirmed that it
was in advanced talks to buy Springworks, adding that while
negotiations were ongoing, no legally binding agreement has been
signed and that there was no certainty a deal will materialize.
  
        If the talks are successful, a deal could be signed in
the coming weeks, the three sources told Reuters, requesting
anonymity as the discussions are confidential. They did not
disclose the exact terms being discussed.
  
        Springworks' shares were trading 34% higher after
Merck's statement, giving the company a market valuation of
around $4 billion. The stock had initially jumped nearly 49% on
the Reuters story, to touch its highest level since April 2022.
    Merck's German-listed shares had earlier closed down 3.7%,
giving it a market value of more than $60 billion.
    Springworks declined to comment.
    Dealmaking in the U.S. healthcare sector is showing signs of
picking up, after a slowdown in activity in 2024 as large
pharmaceutical companies took a breather to integrate big
acquisitions they completed the previous year. In January,
Johnson & Johnson  JNJ.N  agreed to buy Intra-Cellular
Therapeutics for about $14.6 billion.  
    Springworks, which listed its shares in New York in 2019, is
a commercial-stage biotech firm that develops drugs to treat
various forms of cancer and other rare diseases such as uterine
cancer and tumours. Its monotherapy drug that is used to treat
desmoid tumors has been approved in the United States. 
    A transaction for Springworks would rank as one of the
biggest pharma deals for Merck in recent years and boost its
ongoing efforts to build out its cancer treatment pipeline. In
2015, Merck agreed to buy U.S. lab equipment supplier
Sigma-Aldrich for $17 billion. 
    Merck, which has a market value of 61.25 billion euros 
($63.13 billion) has suffered high-profile setbacks recently in
late-stage drug trials, prompting it to halt development of head
and neck cancer drug xevinapant. A major trial testing multiple
sclerosis drug evobrutinib failed in December 2023.
    In its most recent quarterly earnings, Merck reported a 12%
rise in adjusted quarterly earnings, helped by temporarily lower
spending on drug development and a rebound in demand for its
specialty materials. 
    In an interview in January, Merck's CEO said a recovery in
sales growth at its major businesses would allow the company to
take a cautious approach to buying other companies, which are
expensively priced.

($1 = 0.9702 euros)

 (Reporting by Sabrina Valle in New York and Patricia Weiss in
Frankfurt; Additional reporting by Milana Vinn in New York and
Bipasha Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Anirban Sen, Susan Fenton
and Nick Zieminski)
 ((Anirban.Sen@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @asenjourno; Reuters
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