Shares of Enliven Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ELVN) climbed 28% on Wednesday following news that Merck (NYSE:MRK) plans to acquire oncology-focused Terns Pharmaceuticals in a $6.7 billion transaction. Maze Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MAZE) also moved higher, rising about 10%.
Merck announced Wednesday that it will purchase clinical-stage oncology company Terns Pharmaceuticals for $53.00 per share in cash, valuing the company’s equity at roughly $6.7 billion. After accounting for cash on hand, the deal represents about $5.7 billion and reflects a premium of 31% to the stock’s 60-day volume-weighted average price and 42% to the 90-day average as of Tuesday.
The transaction is centered on TERN-701, Terns’ lead drug candidate. The investigational oral allosteric BCR::ABL1 tyrosine kinase inhibitor is currently being evaluated in the Phase 1/2 CARDINAL trial for patients with Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic phase chronic myeloid leukemia who have previously received at least one TKI and experienced treatment failure, insufficient response, or intolerance. In March 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Orphan Drug Designation to TERN-701 for the treatment of CML.
Enliven Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing small-molecule inhibitors for cancer treatment. Its pipeline includes ELVN-001, a kinase inhibitor currently in a Phase 1 trial for adults with chronic myeloid leukemia, and ELVN-002, a central nervous system-penetrant, irreversible HER2 inhibitor being studied in a Phase 1 trial for non-small cell lung cancer and other HER2-mutant tumors.
Maze Therapeutics is also a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision small-molecule therapies targeting renal and cardiovascular diseases, as well as related metabolic conditions and obesity.