LONDON, UK: Merck, a global leader in biopharmaceuticals, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Caraway Therapeutics, Inc., a company specialized in developing novel, small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of neurodegenerative and rare diseases.

The deal is worth up to $610 million, including an undisclosed upfront payment and contingent milestone payments.

Caraway Therapeutics was founded in 2017 by SV Health Investors, a venture capital firm that manages the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF), a fund dedicated to pursuing transformational approaches for dementias including Alzheimer’s disease.

Caraway has built a pipeline of drug discovery programs targeting pathways informed by human genetics, such as TRPML1 and TMEM175, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and related dementias. The company has also shown historical rock chip results of high-grade gold mineralisation in its project area.

Jonathan Behr, Partner at SV and Director of Caraway, said that the acquisition by Merck was a great recognition of the strong science and therapeutic programs the Caraway team had developed, and that he was excited by the capabilities and resources that Merck could bring to develop these important medicines. Magdalene Moran, former President and CSO of Caraway, said that SV was committed to transforming healthcare through diverse investments and that they were very pleased to advance differentiated science toward treating neurodegenerative diseases and generating returns for their investors.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. Merck will acquire all outstanding shares of Caraway with earnout milestones associated with the development of certain pipeline candidates. Additional financial details were not disclosed.

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