Pandion Therapeutics soars 132% after Merck agrees to buy the biotech for $1.85 billion

• Pandion Therapeutics soared 132% on Thursday after Merck agreed to acquire the biotech firm for $1.85 billion.
• Merck will initiate a tender offer through a subsidiary to acquire all outstanding shares of Pandion for $60 per share.
• Pandion develops therapeutics targeting patients living with autoimmune diseases.
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Merck sparked a 132% surge in Pandion Therapeutics on Thursday after the pharmaceutical giant agreed to acquire the biotech firm for $1.85 billion.

Pandion is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing therapeutics for patients living with autoimmune diseases. Pandion's lead candidate, PT101, completed a Phase 1a trial earlier this year and is a potential treatment for ulcerative colitis.

Merck will initiate a tender offer through a subsidiary to acquire all outstanding shares of Pandion for $60 per share. Shares of Pandion closed at $25.63 on Wednesday. The completion of the acquisition will require at least a majority of Pandion shareholders tendering their shares to Merck.

"Pandion has applied its TALON technology to develop a robust pipeline of candidates designed to re-balance the immune response with potential applications across a wide array of autoimmune diseases," said Dr. Dean Y. Li, president of Merck Research Laboratories.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021.