Merck
By therapeutic area
| Therapeutic area | Premium | Deals |
|---|---|---|
| oncology | ×0.99 | 28 |
| immunology | ×0.70 | 3 |
By stage at signing
| Phase | Premium | Deals |
|---|---|---|
| phase 1 | ×0.93 | 9 |
| approved | ×1.27 | 9 |
| phase 2 | ×1.50 | 8 |
| preclinical | ×0.78 | 8 |
| phase 3 | ×0.70 | 3 |
| discovery | ×0.76 | 3 |
Strategy profile
Based on 15 disclosed transactions, Merck concentrates its licensing activity in Oncology, Immunology, and Gastroenterology. Merck pays a 0.96x discount to market median, with the strongest premiums in Oncology (0.99x). Their most common deal structure is Acquisition, with an average disclosed value of $5.0B. Most recent activity: 2026.
Premium by therapeutic area
How Merck pays relative to peer medians in each TA
Pipeline coverage & gaps
Merck has disclosed activity in 2 of 12 tracked therapeutic areas. Gaps may represent whitespace opportunities for licensors.
Deal type breakdown
How this buyer structures its transactions
| Deal type | Count | Avg upfront | Avg total value |
|---|---|---|---|
| AcquisitionPrimary | 7 | $9.0B | $9.1B |
| License | 4 | $400M | $1.5B |
| Collaboration | 3 | $20M | $1.8B |
| Option | 1 | $8M | $600M |
Recent disclosed deals
| Year | Asset | Licensor | Indication | Phase | Upfront | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | SPR2015 | SciBrunch Therapeutics | KRAS G12D mutant cancers including colorectal cancer | preclinical | $400M | $2.1B |
| 2026 | IBD target-discovery alliance | Quotient Therapeutics | inflammatory bowel disease | discovery | $20M | $2.2B |
| 2026 | HRS-5346 | Hengrui | heart disease | unknown | — | $2.0B |
| 2026 | ensifentrine | Verona Pharma | COPD | approved | — | $10.0B |
| 2026 | CML asset | Orna Therapeutics | chronic myeloid leukemia | unknown | — | $838M |
| 2026 | CML-related oncology program | unnamed partner | chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) | unknown | — | $838M |
| 2026 | tulisokibart (MK-7240) | Prometheus Biosciences | inflammatory bowel disease | phase_2 | $11.0B | $11.0B |
| 2026 | antibody discovery collaboration | Infinimmune | — | discovery | — | $838M |
| 2026 | TERN-701 | Terns Pharmaceuticals | chronic_myeloid_leukemia | phase_1 | $6.7B | $6.7B |
| 2026 | TERN-701 | Terns Pharmaceuticals | oncology | phase_1 | $6.7B | $6.7B |
| 2026 | — | Quotient Therapeutics | inflammatory bowel disease | discovery | $20M | $2.2B |
| 2025 | Cidara Therapeutics (corporate acquisition; includes CD388/rezafungin and DFC platform) | Cidara Therapeutics | Influenza prevention | phase_3 | $9.2B | $9.2B |
| 2025 | EVX-B3 | Evaxion A/S | infectious | preclinical | $8M | $600M |
| 2025 | Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine) | Verona Pharma | COPD | approved | $10.4B | $10.4B |
| 2025 | Ohtuvayre (ensifentrine) | Verona Pharma | respiratory/pulmonary | approved | $10.0B | $10.0B |
How this is computed
For each Merck deal we find the median total deal value of comparable transactions (same therapeutic area + phase, falling back to TA-only with ≥3 peers). The buyer’s deal divided by the peer median is the per-deal premium. We trim outliers, take the trimmed mean, and clamp to [0.7×, 1.5×] to reject data errors. Confidence scales with sample size.
Trimmed mean of 40 disclosed deal premiums vs. peer medians. Raw premium 0.958, clamped to [0.7, 1.5].