Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck is acquiring British biotech Silence Therapeutics at $20 per ADR, implying an enterprise value of about $1.1 billion (roughly €980 million). The offer represents an 82% premium to the 30-day average share price and was approved by Silence; the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. Silence brings Divesiran, an siRNA drug for polycythaemia vera entering the pivotal Phase III study. Merck will finance the purchase with new loans, bolstering its strategy in rare diseases and specialty medicines. » More on manager-magazin.de

Goldman Sachs has counted Merck & Co. among 23 defensive stocks because the share shows lower volatility and delivers a cash‑flow yield of around 5%. Investors are paying 16 times the earnings expected for the next twelve months, and Merck benefited from a price rise of more than 70% over the past twelve months. Short‑term catalysts are study data from partner Moderna on Saturday and Merck’s quarterly report on Oct. 29; technically the stock is consolidating below its 52‑week high but remains above key moving averages. » More on deraktionaer.de

Merck & Co. says production of the personalized cancer vaccine developed with Moderna currently takes around six weeks from tumor sequencing to delivery, but is expected to be accelerated over time. The vaccine targets individual tumor mutations and is being tested in combination with Keytruda; first positive late‑stage data have already been seen in melanoma patients, and further studies are underway in lung, bladder and kidney cancer. CEO Rob Davis emphasizes the complexity but points to controlled processes and preparations for supply chains and the market. Merck also opened the new research center "Advance" with robotics and AI to speed up analysis of biological samples; the stock has recently risen sharply. » More on deraktionaer.de