Vertex Buys Crinetics for $10 Billion, Adding $85-a-Share Rare Endocrine Drug Portfolio
Updated
Updated · The Boston Globe · Jul 7
Vertex Buys Crinetics for $10 Billion, Adding $85-a-Share Rare Endocrine Drug Portfolio
3 articles · Updated · The Boston Globe · Jul 7
Summary
$10 billion will buy Vertex Crinetics, giving the Boston drugmaker Palsonify—launched last year for acromegaly—and a pipeline that includes a late-stage congenital adrenal hyperplasia therapy.
$85 per share values Crinetics at about a 102% premium to its prior close, and the target's stock jumped 101% in after-hours trading after the announcement.
The acquisition is Vertex's largest ever, topping its $4.9 billion Alpine Immune Sciences purchase in 2024, and extends its push beyond cystic fibrosis after slow launches for Journavx and its sickle cell gene-editing treatment.
Palsonify enters a competitive acromegaly market with Novartis, Ipsen and Chiesi, though analysts have reported steady early uptake.
Nearly three dozen biotech takeovers in the first half of 2026 show how drugmakers are using M&A to offset looming patent expirations, with midsize peers including UCB, Biogen and Incyte also pursuing $1 billion-plus deals.