As SpringWorks Therapeutics nears a key regulatory decision in the U.S., the Connecticut-based cancer and rare disease drugmaker has attracted the attention of a biopharma bigwig from overseas.
Germany’s Merck KGaA is in advanced talks to acquire SpringWorks, Reuters first reported Monday, citing people close to the matter.
After the report, Merck KGaA later confirmed (PDF) the "advanced discussions" but said it's not certain a deal will come together.
SpringWorks had a market capitalization of about $3 billion before Reuters' report on Monday. Investors reacted to the development by spiking the company's share price by 34%, sending its market cap north of $4 billion.
A SpringWorks spokesperson told Fierce Pharma the company "does not comment on market rumors or speculation.”
The development comes as SpringWorks awaits an FDA approval decision on its MEK inhibitor mirdametinib toward the end of February. If approved with the company’s hoped-for label, mirdametinib—slated to become SpringWorks’ second commercial medicine behind the desmoid tumor drug Ogsiveo—would be the first therapy cleared by the FDA for both adults and children with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) who have symptomatic plexiform neurofibromas (PN).
Should SpringWorks’ drug pass muster with the FDA, mirdametinib will have to go toe-to-toe with AstraZeneca’s Koselugo in the U.S. market.
SpringWorks holds "strategic value" given Ogsiveo's launch trajectory and the company's "potential to become a multi-product story," analysts with Evercore ISI wrote a note to clients Monday afternoon. Both of the company's lead drugs could become $1 billion-type products at peak, the analysts added.
After 2024 proved to be a more muted year for large-scale biopharma M&A, 2025 has already ushered in a pair of substantial transactions.
Issuing an opening salvo at this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Johnson & Johnson last month said it was paying $14.6 billion to get its hands on New York City-based central nervous system biotech Intra-Cellular Therapies.
More recently, investment firm Bain Capital last week said it was laying out 510 billion Japanese yen ($3.3 billion) to acquire Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma in a carve-out transaction from the Japanese drugmaker’s parent company, Mitsubishi Chemical Group.
Editor's note: This story was updated on Feb. 11 with Merck KGaA's confirmation that it's in "advanced discussions" with SpringWorks.