07:32 AM EDT, 03/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Merck ( MRK ) has agreed to acquire Terns Pharmaceuticals ( TERN ) for $53 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $6.7 billion, the companies said Wednesday.

The purchase price represents a premium of about 31% to Terns' 60-day volume-weighted average price and 42% to its 90-day average stock price, the companies said.

The acquisition will add TERN-701, an investigational oral drug in phase 1/2 development for chronic myeloid leukemia, to Merck's ( MRK ) hematology pipeline, according to the companies.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in Q2, subject to shareholder tender and regulatory approvals, the companies said.

Terns shares rose by 5.2% in premarket trading, while Merck ( MRK ) was up 0.5%.