By Ben Dummett and Lauren Thomas

Germany's Merck KGaA is finally nearing a roughly $3.5 billion deal for SpringWorks Therapeutics, a U.S. biopharmaceutical company that specializes in rare diseases and cancer.

The details

The two parties are discussing a deal around $47 per share, Merck said in a statement Thursday, confirming an earlier report in The Wall Street Journal. Merck said no final agreement had been made.

A deal could be completed as soon as Monday, assuming the talks don't hit any more last-minute snags, people familiar with the matter had said.

The German life-sciences and chemicals company had said in February it was in advanced talks to buy SpringWorks, after signaling it was on the lookout for deals.

After the deal didn't quickly materialize, SpringWorks's shares slumped. On Thursday, the stock closed up 9% to $44.93 following the Journal report. In February, shares were changing hands closer to $60.

The context

Recent market volatility with President Trump's global trade war has added complexity to the deal discussions.

Merck, which is based in Darmstadt, Germany, has a market value of almost $60 billion which should make SpringWorks easily digestible despite the overall market uncertainty.

In October, Merck said acquisitions were an integral part of its strategy and it was focusing on its life-science business for larger deals. At Merck, which operates three main businesses, its life sciences unit focuses on developing drugs to treat chronic diseases.

SpringWorks in late 2023 launched its first drug, Ogsiveo, a therapy for a rare type of tumors that occur in connective tissue known as desmoid tumors in adults. The business had a market value of a little over $3 billion as of Thursday.

Write to Ben Dummett at ben.dummett@wsj.com and Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 24, 2025 18:51 ET (22:51 GMT)

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