Monday, February 25, 2019

I Am Tardy, In Mentioning The Immune Design Deal...


Tomorrow's hearings loom (just as the Kefauver-Harris amendment hearings did, about 57 years ago), and most expect Merck's Mr. Frazier to. . . shine. He may well save pharma -- from itself.

Still not sure I'll blog it -- we shall see. But I did want to get this out, for the record: at the end of last week, Merck agreed to acquire a small public company, for about $300 million. It is called Immune Design, for which Kenilworth will pay about $5.85 share. So here is the SEC filing, made by the target company -- and a bit of the presser:

. . . .“Scientists at Immune Design have established a unique portfolio of approaches to cancer immunization and adjuvant systems designed to enhance the ability of a vaccine to protect against infection, which could meaningfully improve vaccine development,” said Dr. Roger M. Perlmutter, president, Merck Research Laboratories. “This acquisition builds upon Merck’s industry-leading programs that harness the power of the immune system to prevent and treat disease.”

Immune Design is a late-stage immunotherapy company employing next-generation in vivo approaches to enable the body’s immune system to fight disease. The company’s proprietary technologies, GLAAS® and ZVex®, are engineered to activate the immune system’s natural ability to generate and/or expand antigen-specific cytotoxic immune cells to fight cancer and other chronic diseases.

“Merck has a rich history of discovery and innovation and a strong track record of developing meaningful therapeutics and vaccines,” said Dr. Carlos Paya, president and chief executive officer, Immune Design. “We believe this agreement creates shareholder value by positioning our technologies and capabilities for long-term success with a leading, research-driven bio-pharmaceutical company. . . .”


Onward, to tomorrow's Congressional pricing hearings. I will be listening in -- if something truly interesting comes to pass, I'll mention it. . . I guess. Sleep tight, one and all. . . smile. I am just missing you like crazy, in truth. Is that you, lurking furtively, over at the Riot Blockchain website? Smile -- do tell.

नमस्ते

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