Merck & Co.’s talks to buy ADC specialist Seagen have stalled, according to anonymous Bloomberg sources.
The two companies can't seem to agree on a price, but the deal isn't off the table yet, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
If the two can work it out, the deal would be Merck's biggest move in more than a decade.
Rumors of a potential $40 billion buyout began circulating back in July. Merck has been tied to Seagen since Oct. 2020, when the drugmaker made $1 billion equity investment in the Seattle biotech. The investment was made in connection with a global collaboration with Merck to co-develop and commercialize ladiratuzumab vedotin, an investigational antibody-drug conjugate targeting LIV-1.
Seagen as of late has been preoccupied with litigation, arguing that Daiichi Sankyo infringed its patents by selling cancer treatment Enhertu in the U.S.