Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Merck's $138M bet on "smart insulin" never made it past Phase 1 — the lead candidate MK-2640 was 25x weaker than natural insulin and was scrapped in 2016-2017, delivering zero commercial product 6+ years after close.
Full analysis, sources & comparables →Merck's acquisition of JDRF-funded SmartCells advances the long-pursued goal of a glucose-responsive insulin that could reduce hypoglycemia risk for people…
Merck acquired SmartCells in 2010 for an upfront payment plus milestones potentially exceeding $500M — an unprecedented valuation for a preclinical asset built…
Merck's SmartCells-derived candidate MK-2640 entered Phase 1 in 2014 and was discontinued in 2016 due to lack of efficacy, illustrating the difficulty of…
Source summaries from our enrichment pipeline; follow links for originals.
All 5 sources with sentiment breakdown →
Merck to acquire SmartCells, MIT-spinout developing glucose-responsive insulin. Deal includes upfront cash + clinical/regulatory milestones aggregating >$500M plus sales-based payments.
Merck's $138M bet on "smart insulin" never made it past Phase 1 — the lead candidate MK-2640 was 25x weaker than natural insulin and was scrapped in 2016-2017, delivering zero commercial product 6+ years after close.
Assessment window: 15yr post-close.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merck & Co. Inc. / SmartCells, Inc. (this deal) | 2010 | $500M | 20 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. / Acceleron Pharma Inc. | 2021 | $11.5B | 90 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. / Peloton Therapeutics Inc. | 2019 | $2.2B | 88 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. / AstraZeneca PLC | 2017 | $8.5B | 87 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. / Moderna, Inc. | 2022 | $250M | 86 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. / Moderna, Inc. | 2016 | $250M | 84 |
| Merck & Co. Inc. / Eisai Co., Ltd. | 2018 | $5.8B | 83 |
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