MRK - Merck & Co., Inc.
89.60 +0.41 (0.46%)
Pre-market: 9:04AM EST
| Previous close | 88.96 |
| Open | 89.20 |
| Bid | 89.27 x 900 |
| Ask | 89.98 x 800 |
| Day's range | 88.44 - 89.59 |
| 52-week range | 70.89 - 89.96 |
| Volume | 7224978 |
| Avg. volume | 8,076,646 |
| Market cap | 227B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 0.53 |
| PE ratio (TTM) | 24.92 |
| EPS (TTM) | N/A |
| Earnings date | N/A |
| Forward dividend & yield | 2.44 (2.72%) |
| Ex-dividend date | 2019-12-13 |
| 1y target est | N/A |
- Zacks
Roche's (RHHBY) Tecentriq Combo Succeeds in Melanoma Study
Roche's (RHHBY) Tecentriq in combination with Cotellic and Zelboraf meets primary goal.
- Zacks
Pharma Stock Roundup: MRK, SNY to Buy Cancer Firms, LLY Starts New Lung Cancer Study
This week two deals grab headlines in the pharma space. Merck (MRK) offers to buy ArQule for $2.7 billion while Sanofi (SNY) signs a definitive deal to purchase Synthorx for $2.5 billion
- Zacks
Lilly Initiates Phase III Lung Cancer Study on RET Inhibitor
Lilly (LLY) initiates a phase III study on its oral RET inhibitor, selpercatinib, in treatment-naive, RET fusion-positive NSCLC patients.
- Investing.com
NewsBreak: Stocks Shoot Higher on Trade Deal Report
Investing.com – Stocks pushed higher Thursday afternoon on reports the United States and China have mostly agreed on a phase one trade deal.
- Zacks
AstraZeneca's Imfinzi Gets China Nod for Stage III NSCLC
AstraZeneca's (AZN) Imfinzi becomes the first immunotherapy to receive approval in China for treating unresectable, stage III NSCLC, which has not progressed following chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
- Zacks
Sanofi, Regeneron to Amend Agreement for Kevzara & Praulent
Sanofi (SNY) intends to amend its antibody collaboration with Regeneron related to Kevzara and Praulent into a royalty-based agreement. Agreement terms for Dupixent to remain intact.
- Zacks
Roche's (RHHBY) sBLA for Asthma Drug Xolair Accepted by FDA
The FDA accepts Roche's (RHHBY) allergic asthma drug Xolair's sBLA for the treatment of nasal polyps in adult patients aged 18 years or above with inadequate response to intranasal corticosteroids.
- Zacks
Sanofi (SNY) Looks Good: Stock Adds 6.2% in Session
Sanofi (SNY) saw a big move last session, as its shares jumped more than 6% on the day, amid huge volumes.
- Zacks
Why Biotech ETFs are Surging to New Highs
increasing M&A deals and cutting edge therapies are driving biotech ETFs higher
- Zacks
Biotech ETFs Hit New Highs on Deal Activities
Following the new deals in the healthcare space, a few biotech ETFs hit new highs.
- Zacks
Merck to Buy ArQule for $2.7B to Boost Cancer Portfolio
Merck (MRK) offers to acquire ArQule for a deal value of $2.7 billion. The transaction will add ArQule's lead investigational candidate ARQ 531 to Merck's oncology portfolio.
- Zacks
Pharma M&As Continue, Merck, Sanofi to Buy Cancer Drug Firms
Merck offers to buy ArQule for $2.7 billion while Sanofi signs a definitive deal to purchase Synthorx for $2.5 billion.
- Bloomberg
Drug Giants Pay Hefty Premiums as Cancer-Drug Race Heats Up
(Bloomberg) -- Two of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies agreed to pay substantial premiums to acquire smaller cancer-drug makers, underlining the eagerness of the drug giants to add promising treatments to their oncology pipelines.In separate deals announced Monday, Merck & Co. agreed to buy ArQule Inc., which is developing drugs known as kinase inhibitors, for $2.7 billion, while French drug giant Sanofi agreed to buy Synthorx Inc., a maker of therapies that harness the immune system to fight tumors, for $2.5 billion.Both proposed transactions come with hefty price tags. In the ArQule deal, Merck will make a tender offer of $20 a share, more than double the smaller company’s closing price Friday. And in its deal for Synthorx, Sanofi agreed to pay nearly three times its target’s market value.Shares of ArQule more than doubled to $19.63 at 10:14 a.m. in New York, while Synthorx shares surged to $67.39, well above their Friday closing mark of $25.03.The substantial prices show that pharmaceutical giants are feeling increasingly pressed to pay up for companies that can restock their inventory of new drugs. For some time, drugmakers had balked at the lofty valuations of some publicly traded biotechnology companies.Merck Chief Marketing Officer Michael Nally, who is seen as a potential candidate to replace Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Frazier, said at a conference last week that the company doesn’t have an appetite for mega-deals, but would likely focus on transactions under $10 billion.Despite increasingly high premiums, “we’re not driven by the price of a deal,” Nally said. “We’re trying to find those spots where there’s those value-creating opportunities, and we look at everything. We’re not confined to a therapeutic area. We’re not confined to a size.”A persistent rally in biotech stocks could be forcing drugmakers to get off the sidelines before prices for appealing takeover targets climb even higher. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index has surged some 24% this year.Deals like those unveiled Monday are likely to spur more gains in the sector, which is highly sensitive to takeover trends.Also on Monday, shares of XBiotech Inc. jumped 85% after Janssen Biotech Inc., a unit of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Co., agreed Saturday to buy rights to the company’s bermekimab, a potential treatment for colorectal cancer, for $750 million in cash.More CompetitionMerck already markets one of the world’s biggest-selling cancer treatments, the immunotherapy Keytruda, but like other large pharmaceutical companies, it has been searching for ways to expand its oncology offerings. Keytruda, which had 2018 sales of more than $7 billion, is expected to face increased competition in coming years.“We’ve been very committed to using Keytruda as our cornerstone--a foundational component to many therapies--while adding on additional targets,” Roy Baynes, senior vice president and head of global clinical development for Merck Research Laboratories, said in an interview. “As we diversify our oncology platform, I think we’ll follow the science more than targeting specific areas of disease.”ArQule, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, is focused on kinase inhibitor discovery. Its lead drug candidate, ARQ-531, is currently being studied in patients with a range of blood cancers. The drug will compete with a promising asset Eli Lilly & Co. acquired through its $8 billion purchase of Loxo Oncology in January, which jump-started a year of deals for new cancer compounds.“We were intrigued by the work that ArQule and others have been doing in this competitive space,” Baynes said. “The science has come to a moment in time where it looks very compelling. That was the driver moving ahead. Though the company has a number of other assets and a productive discovery engine, ARQ-531 is front and center.”In the past, Merck executives had signaled that high prices for biotech companies had been an impediment to getting deals done. But recently, the company has been more open to doing deals, and willing to pay more. Earlier this year, it spent $5.1 billion to buy the cancer-drug maker Peloton Therapeutics a day before the company was set to debut on the stock market.“We continue to think there is much more consolidation on the horizon” given the needs of drugmakers to beef up their pipelines, said Jared Holz, a health-care equity strategist at Jefferies LLC, in a note to clients.BofA Securities acted as financial adviser to Merck on the deal, and Covington & Burling was its legal counsel. Centerview Partners was financial adviser and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom was legal adviser to ArQule.The transaction is expected to close early in the first quarter of 2020.Sanofi ShiftAt Sanofi, new Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson is moving to put his stamp on the Paris-based drugmaker. The deal for La Jolla, California-based Synthorx underscores its efforts to build its portfolio of innovative therapies in a fast-growing and lucrative market. The purchase marks Sanofi’s first multibillion acquisition since early 2018.On Tuesday, Hudson is expected to lay out his pipeline and acquisition priorities, along with his initial plans for the consumer-health, diabetes and other units.Investors are counting on Hudson to fire up Sanofi’s research operations and step up the search for novel products to reduce its reliance on Dupixent, a standout medicine for severe eczema and asthma. Hudson, the former pharma head at Novartis AG, is credited with launching key medicines at his previous job before becoming CEO of Sanofi in September.Synthorx’s main drug, known as THOR-707, is being explored as a treatment for multiple types of solid tumors, together with immune checkpoint inhibitors and other future combinations.Morgan Stanley advised Sanofi, which used Weil, Gotshal & Manges as its law firm. Synthorx’s advisers were Centerview Partners LLC and Cooley LLP.(Updates stock-price information in fourth paragraph, adds quotes from executives throughout)\--With assistance from Cristin Flanagan and Ben Scent.To contact the reporters on this story: Riley Griffin in New York at rgriffin42@bloomberg.net;James Paton in London at jpaton4@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, ;Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Timothy Annett, Mark SchoifetFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
- Zacks
Merger Monday, Biotech Edition: MRK, SNY, ARQL, THOR & More
Large-cap pharmaceutical companies are putting their assets to work in the biotech space, particularly in cancer treatment (oncology).
- Zacks
Bristol-Myers' (BMY) Lymphoma Drug Meets Goals in Key Study
Bristol-Myers' (BMY) TRANSCEND NHL 001 study on CAR T-cell therapy drug meets endpoints.
- Investing.com
Stocks - Canopy Growth, ArQule Rise in Premarket; Microsoft Edges Lower
Investing.com -- Stocks in focus in premarket trade on Monday, 9th December.
- Zacks
Amgen Gets FDA Approval for J&J/Merck's Remicade Biosimilar
FDA gives nod to Amgen's (AMGN) Avsola (ABP 710), a biosimilar of J&J's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug, Remicade.
- Reuters - UK Focus
US STOCKS-Wall St set to drop after weak Chinese data; Tariff deadline looms
U.S. stocks were set to open lower on Monday as weak data from China brought back fears of a slowdown in the world's second-biggest economy, while investors looked for any positive news on trade talks ahead of a tariff deadline later in the week. China's exports in November shrank for the fourth consecutive month, underscoring persistent pressures on manufacturers from the Sino-U.S. war, but growth in imports may be a sign that Beijing's stimulus steps are helping to stoke demand. In a quiet start to the week, market participants are expected to keep a close watch on trade as planned U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports kick in on Dec. 15 that will cover several consumer products, including mobile phones and toys.
- Simply Wall St.
Three Things You Should Check Before Buying Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) For Its Dividend
Is Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) a good dividend stock? How can we tell? Dividend paying companies with growing...
- Zacks
Pharma Stock Roundup: FDA Updates for RHHBY, AZN, MRK, No Asbestos in Talc Says JNJ
The FDA approves Roche's (RHHBY) Tecentriq for expanded use. It grants priority review status to AstraZeneca (AZN) & Merck's (MRK) supplemental applications.
- Zacks
AstraZeneca's Lynparza Gets China Nod in First-Line Setting
AstraZeneca's (AZN) Lynparza receives approval in China for first-line maintenance treatment of advanced ovarian cancer with BRCA-mutation.
- Zacks
Bristol-Myers' Orencia Gets Breakthrough Therapy Tag for GvHD
The FDA grants Breakthrough Therapy designation to Bristol-Myers Squibb's (BMY) Orencia for the prevention of moderate-to-severe acute GvHD in hematopoietic SCT from unrelated donors.
- Zacks
J&J Stock Witnesses Volatility in '19: What to Expect in 2020
Here we discuss the ups and downs of J&J's (JNJ) stock this year.
- Reuters
AstraZeneca-Merck Lynparza wins approval in China for ovarian cancer treatment
The approval in China is based on the results from a late-stage study in which Lynparza lowered the risk of disease progression or death by 70% when compared to placebo. Lynparza is currently approved in 65 countries for the maintenance treatment of platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer, the companies said.
