Merck to expand neuro offering with Caraway buy

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) as entered into a definitive agreement, through a subsidiary, to acquire Caraway Therapeutics, a privately-held US pre-clinical biopharmaceutical company.

Merck has agreed to pay a total potential consideration of up to $610 million, including an undisclosed upfront payment as well as contingent milestone payments. The upfront payment will be expensed by Merck in the fourth quarter of 2023.

“Caraway’s multidisciplinary approach has yielded important progress in evaluating novel mechanisms of modulation of lysosomal function with potential for the treatment of progressive neurodegenerative diseases,” said George Addona, senior vice president, discovery, pre-clinical development and translational medicine, Merck Research Laboratories, adding: “We look forward to applying our expertise to build upon this work with the goal of developing  much needed disease-modifying therapies for these conditions.”