By Colin Kellaher 
 

Merck & Co. (MRK) on Thursday said it agreed to buy clinical-stage immunotherapy company Immune Design Corp. (IMDZ) for $5.85 a share in cash, or about $300 million.

The purchase price is more than quadruple Immune Design's Wednesday closing price of $1.42.

Merck expects to complete the acquisition, which the Kenilworth, N.J., drug maker said bolsters its capabilities in vaccine development for infectious diseases and cancer, early in the second quarter.

Shares of Seattle-based Immune Design surged to $5.82 in premarket trading Thursday.

 

Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 21, 2019 07:18 ET (12:18 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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