The German firm’s pharma chief Peter Guenter says that while the firm’s lifecycle management of older products is industry-leading, “innovation is the lifeblood of any pharmaceutical company," and he is confident Merck’s promising pipeline will augment its current big earners.

The German firm’s pharma chief Peter Guenter tells Scrip that while the firm’s lifecycle management of older products is industry-leading, “innovation is the lifeblood of any pharmaceutical company," and he is confident Merck’s promising pipeline will augment its current big earners.

Public Company Edition: The last biopharma IPO in the US was on 17 February and none have been scheduled, so far, for March. Also, another SPAC merger is called off, Travere sells $275m worth of notes and Xeris secures $150m in new debt, while Ovid, Passage Bio and others are cutting jobs. 

After doing a number of healthcare deals in 2021, it looks as though Merck KGaA will keep M&A activity to a minimum for the division this year, focusing instead on advancing its own promising candidates for cancer, multiple sclerosis and lupus.