Merck boosts its prospects in neuroscience

Article Excerpt

Merck continues to make savvy acquisitions to expand its pipeline and stay ahead of rivals. Pharma inneuroscience is a promising field, and Merck’s latest purchase should accelerates its growth in this area. MERCK & CO. INC., $106.34, is a buy. The drugmaker (New York symbol MRK; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average) (www.merck.comwww.merck.com; Shares outstanding: 2.5 billion; Market cap: $271.4 billion; Dividend yield: 3.0%) has agreed to buy Caraway Therapeutics for up to $610 million. Launched five years ago, Caraway specializes in studying the waste disposal mechanisms of cells. Its two most advanced programs target the ion channel known as TRPML1, which can regulate how lysosome removes cellular waste. Lysosomes function as the digestive system of the cell, serving both to degrade material taken up from outside the cell and to digest obsolete components of the cell itself. Caraway is exploring how targeting the protein could help treat Parkinson’s disease linked to mutations in a gene called GBA, as well as non-central nervous system rare diseases. Merck & Co. is…