Merck to Buy Autoimmune Drug Developer for $1.85 Billion (1)

Merck & Co. agreed to acquire Pandion Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company developing therapies for autoimmune diseases, for $1.85 billion.

The agreement, worth $60 per share in cash, is at more than double the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company’s closing price Wednesday.

Pandion’s potential treatment for ulcerative colitis and other autoimmune diseases, known as PT101, has completed a Phase 1a clinical trial that achieved its primary objective of safety and tolerability, the companies said in a statement.

The planned purchase comes about three weeks after Merck named Robert M. Davis to succeed Kenneth Frazier as chief executive officer, and about ...