Catenaa, Wednesday, July 09, 2025- Merck has struck a roughly $10 billion deal to buy biotech Verona Pharma, the US drugmaker’s biggest acquisition in two years as it expands in respiratory medicine.
The Financial Times report said that the acquisition of Verona enhances the New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company’s pipeline with the addition of Ohtuvayre, a medicine approved in the US to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which analysts predict could generate peak annual sales of nearly $4 billion by the mid-2030s.
Merck said on Wednesday that it would pay $107 a share to buy Verona in a deal that values the target at about $10 billion.
Shares in Verona jumped by 20% in pre-market trading as the deal valued the biotech at a premium to Tuesday’s closing price.
The acquisition, Merck’s largest since its $10.8 billion takeover of Prometheus Biosciences in 2023, is the latest example of a pharmaceutical group targeting a biotech with an approved product already generating revenue to fill the gap left by blockbuster drugs coming off patent.
Shares in Merck, known as MSD outside North America, are down 35% over the past year, giving it a market value of $203 billion as of market close on Tuesday.
Merck’s cancer treatment Keytruda is the world’s top-selling drug, with nearly $30 billion a year in revenue
Merck’s acquisition would fast-track the international launch of the drug in countries outside the US, two people familiar with the matter told The Financial Times.
Trump’s tariff policy prompted Merck in May to cut its 2025 sales outlook. Rob Davis, Merck, CEO of Merck, has previously said he was hunting for deals of $1 billion-$15 billion in value, or even higher if the right target emerges.
Earlier this year, Merck struck an up to $2.2 billion licensing deal with China-based Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals for the global rights to its heart disease drug.
