Topic: How To Invest

Power Growth Investor Hotline – Friday, March 28, 2025

Article Excerpt

MERCK & CO. INC., $89.23, is a buy. The drugmaker (symbol MRK on New York) is a pharmaceutical leader in oncology, acute-care and animal health drugs as well as vaccines. The company is now paying up to $2 billion for the rights to Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co.’s experimental heart drug. The deal represents Merck’s second recent foray into China for a novel medicine. Under the agreement, Merck will pay $200 million up front to develop and commercialize Hengrui Pharma’s pill, now in mid-stage human trials. Merck has promised another $1.77 billion tied to regulatory approvals and commercial goals, along with sales royalties. Hengrui will retain ownership of the drug for the Chinese market. The deal follows Merck’s $2 billion agreement announced in December to license a potential obesity treatment from Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Co. Global pharma firms are increasingly looking to China to refill their pipelines, as the nation’s burgeoning biotech scene has created many novel medicines at attractive prices. Called HRS-5346, Hengrui’s heart…