$30 billion expensive acquisition collapsed! Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK.US) and Revolution (RVMD.US) terminated negotiations due to price differences.

According to sources, Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK.US) has halted negotiations to acquire the biotechnology company Revolution Medicines (RVMD.US) due to the inability of both parties to reach a consensus on the acquisition price. The deal was reported to have valued Revolution Medicines at around $30 billion. The report also added that negotiations could potentially resume in the future, or other bidders could emerge. Currently, Merck & Co., Inc. is seeking to strengthen its treatment portfolio through acquisitions to offset an estimated $18 billion in sales losses over the next five years due to patent expirations. Merck & Co., Inc.'s flagship cancer drug Keytruda is set to lose its patent by the end of this decade. Since 2021, the company has nearly doubled its late-stage pipeline through internal development and major acquisitions (such as the $11.5 billion acquisition of Acceleron for the pulmonary arterial hypertension drug Winrevair). The potential deal with Revolution Medicines could provide Merck & Co., Inc. with their experimental drug Daraxonrasib. Revolution Medicines currently has several compounds in development. Among them, key research results for a lead drug targeting metastatic pancreatic cancer are expected to be announced this summer. Revolution Medicines is developing a pan-RAS inhibitor RMC-6236 (generic name Daraxonrasib), which is considered a key asset for the company. Daraxonrasib is an oral targeted therapy and a direct RAS (ON) multifaceted inhibitor designed to treat cancers driven by RAS gene mutations. It directly targets activated RAS proteins, inhibits the binding of RAS to downstream signaling proteins, thereby preventing continual activation of the RAS signaling pathway and slowing tumor cell proliferation. Daraxonrasib targets common oncogenic RAS mutations, including G12X, G13X, and Q61X mutations, which are key drivers of major cancers such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and colorectal cancer (CRC). Currently, Daraxonrasib is being evaluated in four global Phase 3 clinical trials, including three studies targeting PDAC and one study targeting late-stage or metastatic RAS-mutated NSCLC. Key research results are expected to be announced this summer. Last December, Revolution Medicines announced that the RASolute304 clinical trial had enrolled its first patient. RASolute304 is a global, open-label, Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of Daraxonrasib in resectable PDAC patients who have undergone surgical resection and completed chemotherapy. The trial plans to enroll approximately 500 PDAC patients carrying oncogenic RAS mutations who have undergone tumor resection surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. The trial will evaluate whether Daraxonrasib can improve the disease-free survival of patients compared to observation alone. According to industry research data, driven by Daraxonrasib, the pancreatic cancer therapeutics market is expected to expand tenfold to over $3 billion by 2035. In October of last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) selected Daraxonrasib to participate in a new pilot program aimed at expediting the approval process for promising drugs. Industry research suggests that Daraxonrasib could potentially receive market approval as early as 2026.