Mer­ck clos­es $10.8B deal with Prometheus

Mer­ck closed its $10.8 bil­lion ac­qui­si­tion of Prometheus Bio­sciences, set­ting the stage for the drug­mak­er’s pur­suit of an im­munol­o­gy block­buster.

In a news re­lease on Fri­day, the com­pa­ny said Prometheus will now op­er­ate as a whol­ly-owned sub­sidiary. Its lead can­di­date, which is be­ing test­ed as a treat­ment for ul­cer­a­tive col­i­tis and Crohn’s dis­ease, has been re­named MK-7240. It’s the ad­di­tion of this ther­a­py that firm­ly moves the com­pa­ny in­to im­munol­o­gy, an area where Mer­ck hasn’t had a ma­jor pres­ence.

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