To expand its portfolio of activities related to the treatment of hepatitis C, the pharmaceutical giant Merck will acquire its rival Idenix Pharmaceuticals, active in the biopharmaceutical sector and active in the field of treatments for viral diseases. The transaction had already been approved by the boards of directors of the two companies.
Merck will pay $24,5 per share in cash, more than triple the stock's close on Friday, for a total of about $3,85 billion, Merck said in a statement. Furthermore, at the beginning of May, Merck had sold the division of consumer products for the person in the area to the German Bayer for 14,2 billion dollars.
Idenix currently has no hepatitis C drugs on the market, but three are in clinical development.
