Merck KGaA agrees $1.3bn takeover of Silence Therapeutics to enter haematology

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany has agreed to acquire Silence Therapeutics for $20.00 in cash per ADS, valuing the company's equity at about $1.3 billion and its enterprise at $1.1 billion. The deal was announced on 19 October and is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2027.

The terms

The price is a 130% premium to Silence's closing ADS price on 16 October and 82% above its 30-day volume-weighted average of $10.99. Because Silence is a UK company, the takeover will run as a scheme of arrangement, which needs shareholder approval and the sanction of the High Court of England and Wales. Holders of around 14% of the voting power have already agreed to back it, and the Silence board approved the deal unanimously.

Why Merck KGaA wants it

The prize is divesiran, an siRNA drug that targets the TMPRSS6 gene to control iron availability for red blood cell production, being developed for polycythemia vera (PV). In the Phase 2 SANRECO study, reported in August, 88% of patients on divesiran responded against 19% on placebo, and patients needed an average of 0.2 phlebotomies over 36 weeks against 2.1 on placebo. Silence had planned to start a Phase 3 trial in the first half of 2027. The drug holds FDA Fast Track and Orphan Drug designations.

Silence also brings a cardiometabolic pipeline led by mid-stage zerlasiran, according to BioSpace.

"will strengthen our capabilities to serve patients with targeted specialty and rare diseases" Kai Beckmann, Chairman of the Executive Board and Group CEO, Merck KGaA

Danny Bar-Zohar, CEO of Merck KGaA's healthcare business, called the deal the company's "entry point into hematology" in a statement reported by BioSpace.

The competitive picture

PV is getting busier. BioSpace notes that Takeda and Protagonist won FDA approval for Mimrylo in PV in August, and Disc Medicine is also active in the space. William Blair analysts, as reported by BioSpace, said the sale takes execution risk away from Silence holders in a market that is getting more competitive.

The bigger picture

Silence has been led on an interim basis by chairman Iain Ross since December 2025, when then-CEO Craig Tooman agreed to step down, according to BioSpace. For a single-asset-led biotech facing a crowded Phase 3, a sale to a larger group with commercial infrastructure is an increasingly common outcome, and it is one more data point in a strong year for biotech M&A.