--- title: "Merck KGaA agrees to buy Silence Therapeutics for $20 per ADS to get PV drug" url: "https://aibio.space/news/merck-kgaa-agrees-buy-silence-therapeutics-20-ads-get-pv-drug/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2026-10-19" section: "Mergers" tickers: "NASDAQ:SLN" source: "https://www.biospace.com/business/merck-kgaa-makes-noise-in-hematology-with-1-1b-silence-buy" summary: "The all-cash deal values Silence at about $1.1 billion in enterprise value, an 82% premium to its 30-day average price. Closing is expected in the first qu" --- By the aibio.space news desk. Sources - [BioSpace](https://www.biospace.com/business/merck-kgaa-makes-noise-in-hematology-with-1-1b-silence-buy) - [Silence Therapeutics press release](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Enters-into-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-Merck-KGaA-Darmstadt-Germany-2026.pdf) - [Fierce Biotech](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/merck-kgaa-buys-silence-13b-deal-biotechs-blood-cancer-sirna-drug) - [Silence SANRECO topline release](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Positive-Topline-Results-from-Phase-2-SANRECO-Trial-of-Divesiran-in-Polycythemia-Vera-Supporting-its-P-S96DH.pdf) - [City AM](https://www.cityam.com/?p=2466771) [SLN](https://aibio.space/companies/silence-therapeutics/) 2026-10-19 # Merck KGaA agrees to buy Silence Therapeutics for $20 per ADS to get PV drug divesiran Tickers [SLN](https://aibio.space/companies/silence-therapeutics/) The all-cash deal values Silence at about $1.1 billion in enterprise value, an 82% premium to its 30-day average price. Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027. ## Key facts - **Company**: Silence Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: SLN) - **News type**: Mergers - **Primary source**: [BioSpace](https://www.biospace.com/business/merck-kgaa-makes-noise-in-hematology-with-1-1b-silence-buy) *The lower Manhattan skyline. CC0, via rawpixel. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, agreed on Oct. 19 to buy Silence Therapeutics for $20.00 in cash per American depositary share, [Silence announced](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Enters-into-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-Merck-KGaA-Darmstadt-Germany-2026.pdf). The price values the RNAi developer at about $1.3 billion in equity and $1.1 billion in enterprise value. It is a 130% premium to the Oct. 16 closing price and 82% above the 30-day volume-weighted average of $10.99. The main prize is divesiran, an siRNA drug for polycythemia vera, a rare blood cancer in which the body makes too many red blood cells, [BioSpace reported](https://www.biospace.com/business/merck-kgaa-makes-noise-in-hematology-with-1-1b-silence-buy). The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. ## The details Each ADS represents three ordinary shares, so the offer works out to $6.6667 per ordinary share. The deal will run through a UK scheme of arrangement and needs approval from Silence shareholders, sanction from the High Court of England and Wales and regulatory clearances, [according to the release](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Enters-into-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-Merck-KGaA-Darmstadt-Germany-2026.pdf). Silence's board approved it unanimously, and holders of about 14% of voting power signed support agreements. Iain Ross, Silence's chairman and interim principal executive officer, said the deal came from "a competitive sale process." Morgan Stanley and Centerview Partners are listed as financial advisers, [City AM reported](https://www.cityam.com/?p=2466771). Divesiran silences TMPRSS6, a liver protein, to raise hepcidin and limit the iron that bone marrow uses to make red cells. In the phase 2 SANRECO trial of 48 patients who depend on phlebotomy, 88% of divesiran patients responded between weeks 18 and 36, against 19% on placebo (p<0.0001), [Silence reported in August](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Positive-Topline-Results-from-Phase-2-SANRECO-Trial-of-Divesiran-in-Polycythemia-Vera-Supporting-its-P-S96DH.pdf). Patients on the drug needed 0.2 phlebotomies on average through week 36, against 2.1 on placebo. Response was 93.8% with dosing every six weeks and 81.3% with dosing every 12 weeks. A phase 3 trial of the 12-week dose is expected to start in the first half of 2027. ## Context Divesiran would enter a market that just got a new drug. Takeda and Protagonist won FDA approval for Mimrylo in polycythemia vera in August, and Takeda forecasts $1 billion to $2 billion in peak sales, [BioSpace reported](https://www.biospace.com/business/merck-kgaa-makes-noise-in-hematology-with-1-1b-silence-buy). Mimrylo was given as a weekly self-injection in phase 3, while Silence plans 12-week dosing, [Fierce Biotech noted](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/merck-kgaa-buys-silence-13b-deal-biotechs-blood-cancer-sirna-drug). Disc Medicine is also developing a PV therapy. Silence's other programs have had setbacks. Hansoh Pharma exited a collaboration last year, leaving the future of cardiovascular siRNA zerlasiran unclear, and AstraZeneca returned rights to SLN312 earlier this year, [Fierce said](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/merck-kgaa-buys-silence-13b-deal-biotechs-blood-cancer-sirna-drug). Silence has been run by Ross on an interim basis since CEO Craig Tooman left in December 2025. Merck KGaA [bought SpringWorks Therapeutics in 2025](https://www.biospace.com/business/merck-kgaa-makes-noise-in-hematology-with-1-1b-silence-buy). CEO Kai Beckmann said the Silence deal "will strengthen our capabilities to serve patients with targeted specialty and rare diseases." ## What it means for investors With a fixed cash price, Silence shares now trade mainly on the odds and timing of closing. The scheme needs shareholder and court approval, and 14% of the vote is already committed. William Blair called the price inexpensive given the broader siRNA platform and said the deal "takes the execution risk off the table," [per BioSpace](https://www.biospace.com/business/merck-kgaa-makes-noise-in-hematology-with-1-1b-silence-buy). For Merck KGaA, the risk moves to [phase 3](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Positive-Topline-Results-from-Phase-2-SANRECO-Trial-of-Divesiran-in-Polycythemia-Vera-Supporting-its-P-S96DH.pdf) and to competition. Mimrylo is already approved, while divesiran's phase 3 has not begun, and a 12-week injection has to win share from an approved weekly drug. ## What to watch The Silence shareholder vote and High Court hearing, with closing [expected in the first quarter of 2027](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Enters-into-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-Merck-KGaA-Darmstadt-Germany-2026.pdf). Divesiran's phase 3 start is planned for the first half of 2027. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story SLN Silence Therapeutics plc NASDAQ ยท United Kingdom Open the desk ## More in Mergers Mergers ### [InMed sets November 5 record date for CVRs tied to Mentari merger](https://aibio.space/news/inmed-sets-november-5-record-date-cvrs-tied-mentari-merger/) Oct 27, 2026 Mergers ### [Rallybio declares estimated $82.7 million cash distribution tied to Avenzo merger](https://aibio.space/news/rallybio-declares-estimated-82-7-million-cash-distribution-tied-avenzo/) Oct 26, 2026 Mergers ### [Skye Bioscience files preliminary proxy for its Redx Pharma acquisition](https://aibio.space/news/skye-bioscience-files-preliminary-proxy-redx-pharma-acquisition/) Oct 26, 2026 --- Source page: https://aibio.space/news/merck-kgaa-agrees-buy-silence-therapeutics-20-ads-get-pv-drug/. Facts in aibio.space stories are checked against company filings and releases; opinion is labelled. Cite as: aibio.space, "Merck KGaA agrees to buy Silence Therapeutics for $20 per ADS to get PV drug", 2026-10-19, https://aibio.space/news/merck-kgaa-agrees-buy-silence-therapeutics-20-ads-get-pv-drug/