Merck KGaA has agreed to buy Bio-Techne Corp. for an enterprise value of approximately $11.3 billion, in a bid to strengthen its life sciences business. The company is offering $73 per share in cash, a 36% premium to Bio-Techne's one-month volume-weighted average trading price, and a 24% premium to the company’s previous close on June 24. The deal will expand Merck’s position in multi-omics, spatial biology, cell and gene therapy, precision diagnostics and advanced research tools.
Molecular subtyping of disease is typically associated with cancer. Now, researchers at the University of Cambridge are applying it to infections. Some patients with severe pneumonia progress in different ways. Predicting their trajectories could help tailor treatments and prevent fatal outcomes. To do this, the scientists analyzed bronchoalveolar fluid from several patient cohorts and identified three biological pneumotypes based on which cells are present, which genes are active, and which inflammatory proteins are produced.
