Germany's Merck KGaA in talks to buy US cancer biotech firm Springworks, sources say

SpringWorks Therapeutics

10/02/2025 14:46

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.
    If the talks are successful, a deal could be signed in the
coming weeks, the three sources said, requesting anonymity as
the discussions are confidential. They did not disclose the
exact terms being discussed.
    Springworks, which has a market value of $3 billion, 
declined to comment. A Merck spokesperson also declined to
comment.
    "We continuously assess options that could support our
businesses and enhance our strategic positioning as a leading
science and technology company. Any specific transactions will
be announced as and when they materialize," Merck said in a
statement. 
    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;
Editing by Anirban Sen and Susan Fenton)
 ((Anirban.Sen@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @asenjourno; Reuters
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