Silence Therapeutics to Be Acquired by Germany's Merck in $1.3 Billion Deal; Shares Surge

03:30 PM EDT, 10/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Silence Therapeutics' (SLN) US-listed shares soared Monday after the UK-based biotechnology company agreed to be acquired by Germany's Merck KGaA in a cash deal for an equity value of about $1.3 billion. Silence Therapeutics is advancing various short interfering RNA product candidates targeting areas of high unmet need across rare and common diseases, including polycythemia vera through its lead program, Divesiran. Polycythemia vera is a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm, a type of rare blood cancer. Under the terms of the deal, Silence Therapeutics' shareholders will receive $20 per American depositary share, or ADS, with each ADS representing three shares. The deal consideration represents a 130% premium to the company's Friday closing ADS price, it said Monday. Silence Therapeutics' American depositary receipts surged about 126% in late-afternoon trade, bringing its year-to-date gains to 222%. The deal with Merck follows a competitive sale process and delivers "significant, immediate and certain value to our shareholders," Iain Ross, chairman and interim principal executive officer of Silence Therapeutics, said. "This transaction follows potentially best-in class phase 2 polycythemia vera data for Divesiran." The deal is expected to close in the first quarter, subject to approval from Silence Therapeutics' shareholders and regulatory clearances. Chardan Capital Markets downgraded its rating on the company's stock to neutral from buy and reduced the price target to $20 from $27. "We believe Divesiran is the clear driver of value in the Silence story," Chardan Senior Research Analyst Keay Nakae said in a note to clients. "We believe Silence's data for zerlasiran is competitive with other RNA drugs targeting [lipoprotein(a)]; however, the next step is to conduct a large and (cardiovascular outcomes trial.)" Silence Therapeutics is developing zerlasiran for the treatment of high lipoprotein(a), a cardiovascular risk factor impacting about 20% of the world's population, according to the company. In August, the company's second-quarter net loss narrowed to $0.09 a share from $0.19 a year earlier. In June, Bio-Techne (TECH) agreed to be acquired by Merck in an all-cash deal with an enterprise value of about $11.3 billion. Bio-Techne's shareholders approved the transaction last month. Merck acquired SpringWorks Therapeutics last year. Last month, Merck's EMD Serono healthcare business acquired two fertility programs from PostEra. Earlier this year, Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) agreed to acquire Actio Biosciences for up to $1.32 billion, including $820 million upfront, to expand its rare epilepsy pipeline. Separately, Angelini Pharma completed its $4.1 billion acquisition of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals to enter the US rare disease market. Price: 19.59, Change: +10.91, Percent Change: +125.63