Boston, MA 06/11/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Merck & Co. agreed to buy Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IDIX) in a deal worth $3.85 billion. Merck has agreed to buy the Pharma company for $24.50 a share in cash. The extra premium agreed for the deal was based on the competitive process of bidding.
Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Treatment of Hepatitis C and the Partnership between the companies
Hepatitis C is the liver-damaging virus and it is estimated that it affects approximately 150 million people across the word. New medicines in this regard lead to better results and fewer side effects in comparison to older drugs. The newer medicines have shorter duration of the treatment. Idenix, which has around 85 employees with no products in market, registered less than $1 million revenue in the year 2013. However, the company developed a lot of potential new treatments for this virus and this has attracted a lot of big drug companies.
Merck’s plans after acquisition
Merck is mainly interested in the Idenix drug, IDX21437, which is known as Nuke or nucleotide. The company plans that after acquisition, it will combine this drug with its own drugs which work via different mechanisms. Two of the drugs developed by Merck will be used along with Idenix drug for triple-drug regimen. Though this triple-drug regimen is three years away, but once the clinical trials as well as approval from the regulators is finalised, it will prove to be very successful. However,Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IDIX)plans that first double-drug regimen should be brought to the market.
Statement from the Chief of Merck’s Research-And-Development Unit
The Chief of Merck’s Research-And-Development Unit, Roger Perlmutter said that the goal of the company was everyone’s treatment. He said that the company had plans of developing its own Nuke for this virus, but the program will receive a jump start through the deal with IIdenix Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IDIX).
