MorphoSys to Buy Constellation Pharma for $1.7 Billion (2)

MorphoSys AG agreed to buy Constellation Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $1.7 billion to acquire promising cancer therapies in an unusually structured deal financed by Royalty Pharma Plc.

MorphoSys will pay $34 a share in cash to Constellation investors, the companies said Wednesday, a 68% premium to the closing price on Tuesday. Constellation’s stock surged 67% in early Nasdaq trading, while MorphoSys fell as much as 17% in Germany.

Fueled by new drugs, including some that enlist the body’s own immune system to fight tumors, cancer treatment has become one of the drug industry’s hottest markets. Constellation’s pipeline includes two experimental ...