Cidara’s Cinderella year ends with $9.2B Merck takeout bid

How quickly things can change in the biotech industry. In the past year, Cidara has gone from a company trading below cash at a market cap of about $100 million to a proposed $9.2 billion acquisition by Merck that would give the pharma a universal prophylactic treatment for influenza.

Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) announced Friday it would acquire Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTX) for $221.50 per share, or about $9.2 billion — a 107% premium to Thursday’s closing price of $107.12. It’s also a 1,430% premium to Cidara’s closing price of $14.48 exactly a year ago — the kind of one-year returns that get the attention of generalist investors...