Personalis receives $50M investment from Merck, extends pact with Moderna

Personalis (PSNL) announced agreements with long time collaborators Merck (MRK) and Moderna (MRNA) that accelerate the advancement of the company’s business strategy. The company has received an investment from Merck and separately has signed a multi-year extension with Moderna to utilize Personalis’ ImmunoID NeXT Platform and technology for V940/mRNA-4157, an investigational individualized neoantigen therapy, being jointly developed by Merck and Moderna. Merck has agreed to purchase $50M of Personalis common stock in a private placement at a price of $3.56 per share, which was the last reported closing price of Personalis’ common stock as reported on Nasdaq on December 18. Following the closing, Merck will own approximately 14M shares of Personalis common stock, representing an approximately 16.5% beneficial ownership interest in Personalis.