Merck, a biopharmaceutical company known as MSD outside of the U.S. and Canada, has acquired Prometheus Biosciences Inc. for $200 per share in cash for a total equity value of approximately $10.8 billion.
Prometheus is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutic and companion diagnostic products for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases. PRA023, one of the company’s candidates, is a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like ligand 1A (TL1A), a target associated with both intestinal inflammation and fibrosis. The company is developing PRA023 for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases including ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and other autoimmune conditions.
“By applying a portfolio of powerful analytic tools to a comprehensive collection of IBD samples, Prometheus identified important disease insights that have now yielded a promising late-stage candidate,” says Dean Li, president, Merck Research Laboratories. “I look forward to working with the talented Prometheus team to establish a new paradigm of precision treatment for immune diseases.”
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as financial advisor to Merck in this transaction and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP as its legal advisors. Centerview Partners LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC acted as financial advisors to Prometheus and Latham & Watkins LLP as the company’s legal advisor.