Merck & Co. Inc. is paying $1.85 billion, or $60 per share, to acquire Pandion Therapeutics Inc. on the back of early stage data in human volunteers for its lead program, PT-101, an engineered interleukin-2 mutein fused to an Fc backbone, which is designed to stimulate targeted expansion of regulatory T cells for use in autoimmune disease indications.
Privately held Sonoma Biotherapeutics Inc. plans to take its newly raised $40 million series A financing to develop regulatory T-cell therapies to control inflammatory responses in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis.
