Shares of Pandion Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PAND) are soaring on Thursday after it was announced that Merck will buy the biotech firm for $60 per share in cash.
The price is more than double the closing price of Pandion’s shares ($25.63) on Wednesday the 24th of February with the deal valuing Pandion at approximately $1.85 billion.
Pandion is advancing a pipeline of precision immune modulators targeting critical immune control nodes. The company’s lead candidate, PT101, is an engineered IL-2 mutein fused to a protein backbone designed to selectively activate and expand regulatory T cells for the potential treatment of ulcerative colitis and other autoimmune diseases.
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Earlier this year, Pandion said that PT101 had completed a Phase 1a clinical trial that met its primary endpoint.
“We are proud that Merck has recognized our team’s innovation and drive in creating a pipeline of diverse candidates that activate natural immune regulatory mechanisms and thereby have the potential to achieve better clinical responses for patients,” said Dr Rahul Kakkar, chief executive officer, Pandion Therapeutics.
“We believe Merck is well positioned to bring our novel approach to the millions of those living with autoimmune diseases, and we look forward to seeing these molecules progress in the clinic,” he added.
Pandion shares are currently trading at $59.65, up over 132% from Wednesday’s close.