Overview

• Merck is negotiating to acquire U.S.-based Springworks Therapeutics in a deal valued at approximately $3.5 billion, or $47 per share.
• The companies remain in advanced but non-binding discussions, with no final agreement reached yet.
• Springworks, spun off from Pfizer in 2017, specializes in therapies for rare tumors and blood cancers and has one FDA-approved drug for advanced soft tissue tumors.
• Merck's pharmaceutical division has faced pressure to find new growth avenues following multiple clinical trial failures.
• This would mark Merck's largest acquisition in years, following its €5.8 billion Versum Materials purchase in 2019 and €13 billion Sigma-Aldrich deal in 2015.