BioCentury
ARTICLE | Deals

How Pandion drove up Merck’s bids along road to $1.9B takeout at 134% premium

March 5, 2021 12:49 PM UTC

Immunomodulation company Pandion spurned at least four proposals from Merck during the 13-month period before finally settling on last week’s $60-per-share deal in which the pharma is acquiring the biotech outright for $1.9 billion.

The negotiations helped Pandion Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PAND) obtain a purchase price that was 134% larger than its last closing price before the deal’s announcement, representing one of the larger premiums in a biotech M&A transaction over the past year...