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Merck concludes USD 10 billion acquisition of Verona Pharma

Rahway: Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, has announced the completion of the Verona Pharma plc acquisition. Verona Pharma is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck and the American Depositary Shares (ADS) of Verona Pharma will no longer be listed or traded on the Nasdaq Global Market.
“The Verona Pharma acquisition strengthens and complements our portfolio of treatments for patients with cardio-pulmonary diseases to include Ohtuvayre, while delivering near and long-term growth as well as value for shareholders,” said Robert M. Davis, chairman and chief executive officer, Merck. “The addition of Ohtuvayre is another strong example of our business development strategy, which focuses on opportunities where compelling science and value align. Ohtuvayre is a novel, first-in-class maintenance treatment targeting an important unmet need for adult patients with COPD. We look forward to applying our commercial capabilities and working with our talented new colleagues from Verona Pharma to build on the strong uptake and performance to date to reach even more patients with this important medicine.”
Through this acquisition Merck has added Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine), a first-in-class selective dual inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 3 and 4 (PDE3 and PDE4), to its growing cardio-pulmonary pipeline and portfolio. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Ohtuvayre in June 2024 for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adult patients. Ohtuvayre is a novel inhaled mechanism for the maintenance treatment of COPD in more than 20 years and combines bronchodilator and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory effects. Ohtuvayre is also being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis.
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Merck, through a subsidiary, has acquired all outstanding shares of Verona Pharma for $107 per ADS, each of which represents eight Verona Pharma ordinary shares, for a total transaction value of approximately $10 billion.
As previously disclosed, the acquisition will result in the capitalization of most of the purchase price as an intangible asset for Ohtuvayre (which will be amortized as a GAAP-only charge over the life of the product). The transaction is expected to negatively impact non-GAAP EPS by approximately $0.16 in the first 12 months, representing costs associated with financing the transaction partially offset by Ohtuvayre performance.
Ruchika Sharma joined Medical Dialogue as an Correspondent for the Business Section in 2019. She covers all the updates in the Pharmaceutical field, Policy, Insurance, Business Healthcare, Medical News, Health News, Pharma News, Healthcare and Investment. She has completed her B.Com from Delhi University and then pursued postgraduation in M.Com. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in Contact no. 011-43720751
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751