Germany’s Merck KGaA acquires Mirus Bio for $600 M

Gamma Biosciences, a life sciences platform established by KKR to address the advanced therapy bioprocessing market, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, whereby Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, will acquire Gamma operating company Mirus Bio for $600 million in cash.

Mirus Bio is a leading provider of innovative transfection solutions used for the delivery of genetic material into cells. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of RUO and GMP reagents and enhancers based on proprietary, multi-component technology. Its products deliver high-performance and cost-effective transfection for a variety of applications, from research through virus manufacturing at scale to address rapidly growing cell and gene therapy applications in AAV & LV.

Gamma acquired a controlling stake in Mirus Bio in 2021 and has worked closely with the company to support its growth and scale-up, including the launch of flagship products VirusGEN® GMP and RevIT™ AAV Enhancer for large-scale therapeutic adeno-associated virus and lentivirus production.

“Over the last several years, we have had the pleasure of supporting Dale and the team at Mirus as they have worked to make these best-in-class transfection products available to cell and gene therapy developers while maintaining the company’s long-standing commitment to the research community” said Matt Gunnison, CEO of Gamma Biosciences. “We are very proud of the progress that Mirus has made and are delighted that it will now become part of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, who we believe is the ideal partner to continue this strong trajectory.”

Dale Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of Mirus Bio, added “With the support of Gamma Biosciences and KKR, we have commercialized our scalable GMP delivery platforms for clinical use and significantly strengthened our position in the cell and gene therapy market. I look forward to this new era with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, as we continue to expand our GMP portfolio with relevant, cutting-edge tools our customers need to develop affordable, life-saving advanced therapies.”

“Gamma’s investment in Mirus Bio reflects KKR’s commitment to driving innovation in the life sciences sector,” said Kugan Sathiyanandarajah, Partner at KKR and Head of Europe for KKR’s Health Care Strategic Growth strategy, and Anuv Ratan, Director at KKR. “The advancements achieved together with the Mirus team, from scaling commercial operations to launching new product lines, further underscore the strong value-creation potential of our strategic approach.”

The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024, subject to US regulatory approvals, as well as other customary closing conditions. Jefferies LLC acted as financial advisor to Gamma and Sidley Austin LLP acted as legal advisors to Gamma.