Power Alley: Merck Acquires Privately-Held Oncology Prospect For $2.75 Billion -- All Cash; Extending "Next-Gen" Franchises

Let us at least attempt some semblance of normalcy, while we wait on a likely flip to blue, in the Georgia ballot-counting -- perhaps within the hour. That would put Biden at 269, one vote shy of the White House, in formal terms.

Merck is spending a small chunk of its cash hoard, from the pembrolizumab franchise coffers, in immuno-oncology, with the aim of extending its "next generation" lead, in the high-burden of disease bladder cancers. Here's the bit, from the company's press release this morning:

. . . .[Merck] and VelosBio Inc. today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire all outstanding shares of VelosBio for $2.75 billion in cash, subject to certain customary adjustments. VelosBio is a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing first-in-class cancer therapies targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1). VelosBio’s lead investigational candidate is VLS-101, an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targeting ROR1 that is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 and a Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies and solid tumors, respectively. . . .

Smart move, to be sure, by Mr. Frazier -- and he is by no means overpaying for this potentially very high value asset, by getting it before Phase 2 results are all in.

Onward, with a spring in my step now. . . grinning.

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