Merck will buy ArQule — which develops pills designed to treat multiple types of cancer — for $2.7 billion, a 107 percent premium above the stock’s closing price Dec. 6.
Sanofi will buy Synthorx — which develops treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases — for $2.5 billion, a 172 percent premium above the stock’s closing price Dec. 6.
The acquisitions follow a trend of large drugmakers buying smaller companies developing cancer treatments. In the last year, Pfizer has purchased Array Biopharma — which developed skin cancer treatments as well as other experimental cancer drugs — for $11.4 billion, and Eli Lilly has bought Loxo Oncology — which specialized in cancer treatments — for $8 billion.
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