Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Merck (NYSE: MRK) acquired private retinal-disease biotech EyeBio (Eyebiotech Limited) in a deal announced May 29, 2024 and completed July 12, 2024. Merck paid approximately $1.3 billion in upfront cash to acquire all outstanding EyeBio shares, with up to an additional $1.7 billion payable in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, for total potential consideration of $3.0 billion. The acquisition marked Merck's entry into ophthalmology, adding EyeBio's lead candidate Restoret (EYE103, now MK-3000) -- a potentially first-in-class tetravalent, tri-specific antibody that acts as an agonist of the Wnt signaling pathway to restore the blood-retinal barrier and reduce vascular leakage -- plus preclinical candidates. Restoret is targeted at diabetic macular edema (DME) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Following the close, Merck advanced the program into two registrational Phase 2b/3 studies: BRUNELLO (NCT06571045) in DME, initiated September 4, 2024, and BAROLO (NCT06957080) in neovascular AMD.