Our Take Newsletter

Darwin's Our Take: Genmab agrees to acquire Dutch biotech Merus for $8 billion

October 6, 2025

Genmab agrees to acquire Dutch biotech Merus for $8 billion

Danish drugmaker Genmab agreed to acquire Merus, a clinical-stage biotech company based in The Netherlands, for $97 per share in cash, or approximately $8 billion.

Through the acquisition, Genmab will gain Merus’ lead asset, petosemtamab, a bispecific antibody that targets the EGFR and LGR5 proteins. The drug is in Phase III development and has “the potential to be both first- and best-in-class in head and neck cancer,” the companies said in a news release.

Genmab noted that petosemtamab is a “compelling strategic fit” with the company’s portfolio, and that it aligns with Genmab’s expertise in antibody therapy development and commercialization in oncology.

“Petosemtamab has the potential to be a transformational therapy for patients living with head and neck cancer,” said Jan van de Winkel, Genmab’s CEO. “With our proven track record of success, both in clinical development and in commercialization, we are confident that we will be able to unlock the promise of petosemtamab.”

If the acquisition is completed, Genmab will have four proprietary programs expected to result in multiple new drug launches by 2027.

Merus has a commercialized product: Bizengri (zenocutuzumab-zbco), a bispecific antibody that received accelerated approval from the FDA late last year for adults with certain types of non-small cell lung cancer or pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Lexington, Mass.-based Partner Therapeutics licensed the U.S. commercialization rights to Bizengri.

Genmab’s proposed purchase price represents a 41% premium over the closing price of Merus’ stock on Friday, Sept. 26, the last business day before the deal was announced.

The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to close early next year. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Merus’ shareholders.

OUR TAKE: Interim data from a Phase II trial of petosemtamab, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting in June, showed the drug extended survival in patients with PD-L1-positive recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma when used as first-line treatment in combination with Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

In a May 22 press release, Merus’ CEO, Dr. Bill Lundberg, said, “By essentially every metric, we believe these interim data are significantly better than pembrolizumab monotherapy, the control arm of our ongoing Phase III trial, and underscores the opportunity petosemtamab holds to become a new standard of care, if approved, in head and neck cancer.”

Dr. Carla van Herpen, the trial investigator who presented the Phase II data at ASCO, said, “Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is associated with a poor prognosis and high mortality rate, and there remains a need for new treatment options for patients. In my clinic, I have witnessed firsthand profound tumor shrinkage with petosemtamab administration, and the efficacy results petosemtamab has shown thus far in combination with the current standard of care, pembrolizumab. I’m excited by the impressive overall response rate [of 60%] and durability of those responses, and what these results, if replicated more broadly, could mean for the future of our practice in head and neck cancer.”

MedCity News reported that, in addition to inhibiting the EGFR and LGR5 proteins and their roles in driving cancer growth, petosemtamab has a third mechanism of action: it causes immune cells to target and kill the cancer cells.

Merus is currently evaluating petosemtamab in two Phase III trials — one as a first-line treatment and the other as a second-line treatment. At least one of the trials is expected to yield data next year, according to MedCity News, and if those results are as encouraging as the Phase II data, Genmab could be marketing the drug by 2027.

Merus is also evaluating petosemtamab in a Phase I/II trial as a potential treatment for colorectal cancer. Preliminary data from that trial could be available later this year.

Matt Phipps, an analyst at William Blair, estimated that petosemtamab could generate peak sales of $3.8 billion by 2041 in just the head and neck cancer indication.

Health Care Rounds #190:New Northwell Health CEO Dr. John D'Angelo

What does it take to lead 100,000 health care workers through constant disruption? In this episode, host John Marchica sits down with John D’Angelo, MD, FACEP, President & CEO of Northwell Health, to discuss his journey from physician to chief executive. Dr. D'Angelo shares critical lessons learned from managing COVID-19 surges, his vision for maintaining organizational culture across 100,000 employees, and where he sees the greatest opportunities in health care delivery. Watch here or listen to Health Care Rounds wherever you get your podcasts.

DC Developments

The 100% tariffs on branded pharmaceutical products that were to take effect on Oct. 1 have been paused. Citing an unnamed White House official as its source, Politico reported that the White House said the tariffs may not need to be imposed if more deals can be arranged like the one Pfizer agreed to on Tuesday. Pfizer said it will dedicate an additional $70 billion to U.S. research, development, and capital projects in the next few years. The company will also participate in a direct purchasing platform called TrumpRx.gov, offering a discount on a large majority of its primary care treatments and select specialty brands. In return, Pfizer will benefit from a three-year grace period with regard to the drug tariffs. The deal is the first to be negotiated as part of the administration’s most-favored nation pricing initiative.

What else you need to know

UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and CVS Health’s Aetna are trimming their Medicare Advantage (MA) plan service areas for 2026, according to a state-by-state CMS fact sheet. During the upcoming open enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, UnitedHealthcare will offer MA plans in one fewer state and 109 fewer counties compared with the previous year. Similarly, Humana is eliminating MA plan availability in three states and 194 counties, and Aetna is pulling its MA plans in one state and 100 counties. The insurers are exiting unprofitable MA markets as a result of higher-than-anticipated costs (due to increased utilization) and lower reimbursement.

Along with scaling back their service areas, major payers are making changes to their plan designs, such as prioritizing HMOs, which typically have narrower networks than other plan types but give insurers more control over costs. Some insurers are also cutting back on benefits while raising deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. Based on payers’ estimates, CMS said enrollment in MA plans for the 2026 plan year will account for approximately 48% of all Medicare enrollees, a decrease from 50% in 2025, which equates to nearly 1 million fewer enrollees. In contrast to the three largest MA plan carriers, Elevance and Centene are slightly increasing their geographic footprint for the 2026 plan year, although Elevance is stepping away from the Part D prescription drug market.

Thyme Care raised $97 million in its most recent funding round, which included investors such as CVS Health Ventures, Humana, Memorial Hermann Health System, and Morgan Health. Founded in 2020, Thyme Care, a value-based cancer care enabler with headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., works with more than 1,000 oncologists across the U.S. to reduce administrative burden, support higher-value drug choices, strengthen clinical collaboration, and integrate services such as palliative care. In a press release, Vijay Patel, managing partner at CVS Health Ventures, said, “We continue to invest in Thyme Care because of the meaningful impact their model has on improving the lives of people with cancer. Through their technology, partnerships, and national scale, we’ve seen how Thyme Care can help deliver more coordinated interventions and a care experience that feels more connected, human, and affordable.” Thyme Care said it manages more than $5 billion in oncology spend.

The Cancer AI Alliance, a research collaboration of leading cancer centers, announced the first scalable platform using federated learning (a method of machine learning that preserves the anonymity of individual data) for cancer research. “We are at an urgent inflection point in both cancer research and AI, and this platform enables us to rise to this moment by rapidly advancing cancer research, treatments, and care,” said Jeff Leek, chief data officer at Fred Hutch and founder of the Cancer AI Alliance. “Currently, it takes years to uncover new insights that can be translated into better treatments and care, but this platform will accelerate the pace of breakthrough discoveries by 10-fold, reducing that time from years to months.” Members of the organization include National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers such as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins.

Amgen’s Repatha (evolocumab) significantly lowered the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) among more than 12,000 high-risk trial participants who had no history of heart attack or stroke before enrolling in the Phase III VESALIUS-CV trial. At enrollment, the participants had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or diabetes and elevated cholesterol; most were on optimized lipid-lowering therapy, which they continued during the trial. They were randomized to receive Repatha or placebo and were followed for a median of approximately 4.5 years. Amgen said in a press release that results for both of the trial’s primary endpoints were statistically and clinically significant. Full results are to be presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in New Orleans on Oct. 8. Repatha, an injectable PCSK9 inhibitor and one of Amgen’s top-selling drugs, could face biosimilar competition in 2030 and pricing constraints from Medicare even sooner, Biopharma Dive reported.

Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health is no longer participating in merger talks with Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and the University of Minnesota. Fairview said in February that it was not interested in being part of a merger with Essentia, which the university had proposed, prompting the Minnesota attorney general’s office to appoint a strategic facilitator in April to mediate negotiations among the three entities. The original goal was to create a nonprofit health system that would involve $1 billion in new investments and would secure the future of the university’s medical school, which, according to MPR News, educates 70% of the state’s physicians. Fairview owns health care facilities on the university’s campus, including the University of Minnesota Medical Center, the teaching hospital for the medical school. But an operating agreement between the university and Fairview is set to expire at the end of next year. Late last month, the university and Essentia issued statements containing similar verbiage: “The strategic facilitator determined Essentia no longer had a role in [the merger discussion] process, [which] is distinct from the broader conversations happening between the university and Ess entia to support the university’s medical school.” The strategic facilitator said discussions between Fairview and the university are ongoing.

Executive Moves

Several top health systems disclosed CEO changes last week. On Oct. 1, Dr. John D’Angelo assumed the role of president and CEO of Northwell Health, New York’s largest health care provider. He succeeds Michael Dowling, who served as the health system’s first president and CEO for more than 23 years and has transitioned to the role of CEO Emeritus. Dr. D’Angelo’s own career at Northwell spans more than 25 years, according to the announcement. (This week’s Health Care Rounds podcast features an interview with Dr. D’Angelo.)

Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems stated in an SEC filing that Tim Hingtgen has retired as CEO but will stay on as a consultant for a year, effective Oct. 1. Hingtgen, who has been with CHS for 18 years, served as CEO since January 2021. Kevin Hammons, CHS’ president and chief financial officer, has taken on the role of interim CEO. Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health is seeking a successor for Robert Ritz, who will retire on Jan. 2 as president and CEO of Des Moines, Iowa-based MercyOne. Ritz began his career with MercyOne in 2013 as president of Mercy Des Moines Hospital and was appointed CEO of Mercy Health Network in 2017, according to a press release. Trinity Health has been the sole owner of MercyOne since 2022. On Oct. 1, BJC Health System announced that Nick Barto has taken on the joint role of president and CEO. Barto joined the St. Louis-based health system in 2018 as chief financial officer and served as its president since 2023. He succeeds Rich Liekweg, who announced his retirement in June.