Caris Life Sciences, LLC

Merck KGaA has sealed a $3.9bn deal to acquire SpringWorks. Credit: LumiNola via Getty Images. Merck KGaA (Merck) has moved to strengthen its position in oncology and rare diseases with a $3.9bn agreement to acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics. Under the deal, Merck will pay $47 per share in cash, representing a 26% premium to SpringWorks’ average share price over the 20 days leading up to 7 February 2025, the day before media reports of the potential acquisition surfaced. Based on SpringWorks’ cash holdings at the end of 2024, the deal gives the company an enterprise value of approximately $3.4bn. Headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck said the acquisition would “immediately add revenue” and strengthen its oncology pipeline in the 28 April announcement. The deal will bolster Merck’s oncology portfolio with US-based SpringWorks’ pipeline of targeted therapies. These include Ogsiveo (nirogacestat), which is approved for treating desmoid tumours; as well as the MEK inhibitor Gomekli (mirdametinib), which was approved in February 2025 for treating neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Ogsiveo generated $172m in sales in 2024, as per the company’s financials. According to projections from GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center, Gomekli is projected to generate up to $564m in global sales by 2030 while Ogsiveo sales are expected to reach $1.2bn by the same year. GlobalData Strategic Intelligence US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate? Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis. By GlobalData Learn more about Strategic Intelligence GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. In a statement, Merck’s CEO Belén Garijo said: “The agreed acquisition of SpringWorks is a major step in our active portfolio strategy to position our company as a globally diversified, innovation and technology powerhouse. “For our healthcare sector, it sharpens the focus on rare tumours, accelerates growth, and strengthens our presence in the US.” Late-stage talks between the companies were confirmed last week following several months of speculation. Reuters first reported in February 2025 that Merck was exploring a potential deal, triggering a 34% rise in SpringWorks’ share price. Merck KGaA acknowledged the discussions at the time but cautioned that there was no certainty that an agreement would be reached. The acquisition marks the second deal for Merck in the space of a month. At the beginning of April, the company signed a $1.4bn multi-year collaboration with Caris Life Sciences to access novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets. Under the agreement, Caris will identify tumour-associated targets that Merck will take into preclinical and clinical development. Merck’s lead internal ADC candidate M9140 is currently in Phase I trials for colorectal cancer. Merck expects the SpringWorks acquisition to close in H2 2025, subject to regulatory and customary approvals. “Beyond this planned transaction, we will continue to explore M&A opportunities across our three complementary business sectors, always with a firm focus on strategic fit, financial robustness, and long-term value creation,” Garijo concluded.

Merck KGaA is in late-stage discussions to acquire SpringWorks. Credit: Anne Czichos via Getty Images. Merck KGaA is edging closer to the SpringWorks deal, which was first rumoured in February, confirming late-stage negotiations at an estimated price of $47 per share – potentially valuing the deal at around $3.5bn. The company confirmed in a 24 April statement that while no final, legally binding agreement has been established, the “parties are in discussion on the basis of a price of around $47 per share.” The news follows months of speculation. Market chatter around a potential acquisition began on 10 February 2025, when Reuters reported that Merck KGaA was exploring a deal. That same day, the German pharma firm acknowledged the discussions, but cautioned that there was no guarantee of a transaction. Following the report, SpringWorks shares jumped 34%, pushing the company’s market capitalisation over $4bn. Merck KGaA’s CEO Belén Garijobut declined to provide updates on the deal during the company’s full-year earnings press call in March, keeping investors in suspense. Shares in SpringWorks were up by almost 9% when the markets opened on 25 April, after the latest development. A successful acquisition would bolster Merck KGaA’s oncology portfolio with SpringWork’s pipeline of targeted therapies. These include Ogsiveo (nirogacestat), which is approved for treating desmoid tumours, as well as the MEK inhibitor Gomekli (mirdametinib), which was approved in February 2025 for treating neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a rare genetic disorder. According to projections from GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center, Gomekli is projected to generate up to $564m in global sales by 2030, while Ogsiveo sales are expected to reach $1.2bn by the same year. GlobalData Strategic Intelligence US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate? Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis. By GlobalData Learn more about Strategic Intelligence GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology. Merck KGaA already has a strong oncology pipeline. Its top-selling product in 2024 was Erbitux (cetuximab), which generated €1.16bn ($1.25bn) in revenue. The drug is a monoclonal antibody used to treat certain head and neck cancers, and colorectal cancer. However, not all programs have been as successful. In June 2024, Merck KGaA terminated the Phase III TrilynX clinical trial of xevinapant after the drug failed to significantly improve survival in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. Additionally, Merck KGaA has faced setbacks in its neurology pipeline, including the discontinuation of BTK inhibitor evobrutinib in March 2024. The decision followed two Phase II trials in relapsing multiple sclerosis, where the drug did not achieve a statistically significant reduction in annual relapse rates compared to Sanofi’s Aubagio (teriflunomide). The programme had already come under scrutiny in April 2023, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) placed a partial clinical hold on a Phase III study after cases of liver injury were reported. Merck KGaA has continued to prioritise the expansion of its oncology portfolio. Earlier in April 2025, the company signed a $1.4bn multi-year collaboration with Caris Life Sciences to access novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets. Under the agreement, Caris will identify tumour-associated targets, which Merck KGaA will take into preclinical and clinical development. Merck KGaA also has an internal ADC programme, with its lead candidate M9140 currently in Phase I trials for colorectal cancer.

iStock, Anton Vierietin The transaction, which sources say could be agreed upon as soon as Monday, would price SpringWorks at $47 per share, totaling approximately $3.5 billion for the acquisition. Germany’s Merck KGaA is in advanced talks with SpringWorks Therapeutics for an acquisition that could be valued at about $3.5 billion, according to several media reports on Thursday. Confirming the news to The Wall Street Journal , Merck KGgA revealed that while no formal, legally binding arrangement has yet been reached, the companies are considering a purchase price of around $47 per share of SpringWorks. If all goes smoothly from here, the parties could reach an agreement as soon as Monday, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. SpringWorks share prices jumped 9% Thursday after the news reports. Rumors of the courtship between Merck KGaA and SpringWorks first broke in February, with anonymous sources telling Reuters at the time that the parties could reach an agreement in weeks’ time. Merck KGaA confirmed the talks, sending SpringWorks’ stocks surging some 30% in reaction, even as the German pharma insisted that “there is no certainty that any transaction will materialize.” But when a deal didn’t materialize, investor interest in SpringWorks waned. Earlier this month, the cancer-focused biotech had dropped roughly 40% from its high in February. Since the first buyout rumors swirled, SpringWorks has become a more valuable prospect for potential buyers, winning FDA approval for Gomekli, its oral drug for neurofibromatosis type 1 with symptomatic plexiform neurofibromas. If the acquisition deal pushes through, Merck KGaA will inherit SpringWorks’ Ogsiveo, indicated for adults with progressing desmoid tumors. Last year, Ogsiveo pulled in $172 million for the company in the U.S alone. SpringWorks is also studying Ogsiveo in other rare cancers, including ovarian granulosa cell tumors and relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. The SpringWorks deal could help Merck KGaA rebound after a series of clinical setbacks. In April 2023, its BTK blocker evobrutinib was hit with a partial clinical hold from the FDA after the regulator detected cases of liver injury in a Phase III trial. Later that year, in December, Merck KGaA announced that evobrutinib had failed two Phase III studies in relapsing multiple sclerosis, unable to significantly reduce yearly relapse rates versus Sanofi’s Aubagio. Merck KGaA was forced to terminate evobrutinib’s multiple sclerosis run in March 2024. Then, in June 2024, the company also axed a couple of trials of xevinapant after the drug candidate failed to significantly improve survival in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer. Amid these failures, Merck in April 2024 attempted to buttress its cancer pipeline with a potential $1.4 billion discovery and development deal with Texas biotech Caris Life Sciences, focused on antibody-drug conjugates for oncology targets.