Merck to acquire EyeBio for $1.3B upfront payment

Merck and Eyebiotech, a privately held ophthalmology-focused biotechnology company, announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire EyeBio. Under the terms of the agreement, Merck, through a subsidiary, will acquire all outstanding shares of EyeBio for up to $3B, including an upfront payment of $1.3B in cash and a further potential $1.7B in developmental, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the EyeBio Board of Directors. EyeBio is developing a pipeline of clinical and preclinical candidates for the prevention and treatment of vision loss associated with retinal vascular leakage, a known risk factor for retinal diseases. The company’s lead candidate, Restoret (EYE103), is an investigational, potentially first-in-class tetravalent, tri-specific antibody that acts as an agonist of the Wingless-related integration site signaling pathway. Based on positive results from the open-label Phase 1b/2a AMARONE study in patients with diabetic macular edema and neovascular age-related macular degeneration, Restoret is anticipated to advance into a pivotal Phase 2b/3 trial to investigate the treatment of patients with DME in the second half of 2024. Closing of the proposed acquisition is subject to approval under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and other customary conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024 and be accounted for as an asset acquisition. Merck expects to record a charge of approximately $1.3B, or approximately 50c per share, that will be included in non-GAAP results in the quarter that the transaction closes.