Merck KGaA agrees to buy Silence Therapeutics for $20 per ADS in cash

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany will acquire London-based siRNA developer Silence Therapeutics for $20 per ADS in cash, an all-cash deal with an equity value of about $1.3 billion and an enterprise value of $1.1 billion. The purchase strengthens Merck's rare disease pipeline with Silence's clinical-stage siRNA assets.

Why it matters: Big pharma's appetite for RNA-silencing platforms continues, with Merck using the deal to bulk up its rare disease pipeline.