MSD’s Sirna acquisition ‘a good move’

Merck Sharp & Dohme’s (MSD) agreement to acquire Sirna Therapeutics has been described as a good move by industry experts.

The deal, which is worth $1.1 billion (576 million pounds), is expected to see MSD acquire 100 per cent of the company’s equity at $13 per share. According to the firm, the acquisition “complements” its own RNA interference (RNAi) research, the field in which Sirna Therapeutics has been involved.

Commenting on the deal, Barbara Ryan of Deutsche Bank North America argues that the acquisition is a “smart move” by MSD to ensure future growth and development through new investments, CNNMoney.com reports.

Another expert, Ding Ding, an analyst from the Maxim Group, told the news agency: “I’m not convinced that [MSD] is going to continue the current pipeline that Sirna has. The key pipeline that interests Merck is oncology.”

Peter S Kim, president of MSD Research Laboratories, says that Sirna Therapeutics has a “leading presence” in RNAi.

“We believe that RNAi could significantly change the way in which we go about discovering and developing drugs and could become a new way to treat patients with unmet medical needs,” she adds.

MSD claims that the agreement will enable a new approach to developing highly effective drugs based on RNAi therapies.