Merck to acquire Caraway Therapeutics for up to $610m
Betsy Goodfellow | November 22, 2023 | News story | Business Services | Caraway Therapeutics, MSD, Merck, Pharmacy, acquisition
Merck (known as MSD outside of the US and Canada) and Caraway Therapeutics have announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Merck, through a subsidiary, to acquire Caraway for a total fee of up to $610m, including undisclosed upfront and milestone payments.
Caraway is a preclinical biopharmaceutical company with a focus on finding innovative approaches for the treatment of genetically defined neurodegenerative and rare diseases, having established a pipeline of novel, small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of these diseases.
Under terms of the agreement, Merck will acquire all outstanding shares of Caraway with earnout milestones associated with the development of certain pipeline candidates.
George Addona, senior vice president, discovery, preclinical development and translational medicine, Merck Research Laboratories, commented: “Caraway’s multidisciplinary approach has yielded important progress in evaluating novel mechanisms of modulation of lysosomal function with potential for the treatment of progressive neurodegenerative diseases. We look forward to applying our expertise to build upon this work with the goal of developing much needed disease-modifying therapies for these conditions.”
Martin D Williams, chief executive officer of Caraway Therapeutics, added: “This important milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Caraway team and our mission to develop therapeutics with the potential to alter the progression of devasting neurodegenerative diseases and help patients. This acquisition leverages Merck’s industry-leading research and development capabilities to help further advance our discovery and preclinical programs. We thank and appreciate our investors, including SV Health Investors and its Dementia Discovery Fund, AbbVie Ventures, Amgen Ventures, Eisai Innovation and MRL Ventures Fund for their support.”
Betsy Goodfellow
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