Merck KGaA (Merck) has moved to strengthen its position in oncology and rare diseases with a $3.9bn agreement to acquire SpringWorks Therapeutics.
Under the deal, Merck will pay $47 per share in cash, representing a 26% premium to SpringWorks’ average share price over the 20 days leading up to 7 February 2025, the day before media reports of the potential acquisition surfaced.
Based on SpringWorks’ cash holdings at the end of 2024, the deal gives the company an enterprise value of approximately $3.4bn.
Headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck said the acquisition would “immediately add revenue” and strengthen its oncology pipeline in the 28 April announcement.
The deal will bolster Merck’s oncology portfolio with US-based SpringWorks’ pipeline of targeted therapies. These include Ogsiveo (nirogacestat), which is approved for treating desmoid tumours; as well as the MEK inhibitor Gomekli (mirdametinib), which was approved in February 2025 for treating neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Ogsiveo generated $172m in sales in 2024, as per the company’s financials.
According to projections from GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence Center, Gomekli is projected to generate up to $564m in global sales by 2030 while Ogsiveo sales are expected to reach $1.2bn by the same year.
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By GlobalDataGlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
In a statement, Merck’s CEO Belén Garijo said: “The agreed acquisition of SpringWorks is a major step in our active portfolio strategy to position our company as a globally diversified, innovation and technology powerhouse.
“For our healthcare sector, it sharpens the focus on rare tumours, accelerates growth, and strengthens our presence in the US.”
Late-stage talks between the companies were confirmed last week following several months of speculation. Reuters first reported in February 2025 that Merck was exploring a potential deal, triggering a 34% rise in SpringWorks’ share price. Merck KGaA acknowledged the discussions at the time but cautioned that there was no certainty that an agreement would be reached.
The acquisition marks the second deal for Merck in the space of a month. At the beginning of April, the company signed a $1.4bn multi-year collaboration with Caris Life Sciences to access novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) targets. Under the agreement, Caris will identify tumour-associated targets that Merck will take into preclinical and clinical development. Merck’s lead internal ADC candidate M9140 is currently in Phase I trials for colorectal cancer.
Merck expects the SpringWorks acquisition to close in H2 2025, subject to regulatory and customary approvals.
“Beyond this planned transaction, we will continue to explore M&A opportunities across our three complementary business sectors, always with a firm focus on strategic fit, financial robustness, and long-term value creation,” Garijo concluded.
