Impressed by Nobel

American pharmaceutical giant Merck announced yesterday the purchase of the small company Sirna Therapeutics Inc. Merck shareholders have already approved the deal, despite the fact that the company overpaid twice (!) for the purchase compared to Sirna's market value based on trading results on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. The San Francisco-based company estimated the prospects for the acquisition of Sirna at $1.1 billion in cash, or $13 per share (market trading closed at $6.45 on Monday). Now the antimonopoly authorities must have the final say. If their resolution is positive, Sirna will become a subsidiary of Merck and the acquisition will be completed in the first quarter of 2007.

In recent years, Sirna has specialized in the development of promising drugs based on the use of ribonucleic acid (RNA). Scientists Andrew Fire of Stanford University and Craig Mellow of the University of Massachusetts received this year's Nobel Prize for their discovery of this technology. True, Sirna's successes are still modest. The company has not yet released a single drug. But experts assure that her research into genetic technologies for treating the liver and eyes is of unconditional value. Based on this kind of assessment, the company's shares have grown almost 2.5 times since the beginning of the year.

In many ways, Merck's interest was predetermined by close cooperation with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., which many analysts consider the undisputed leader in the field of RNA research. Now, with the purchase of Sirna, the American company will be able to more intensively develop a new area of ​​pharmaceuticals and, possibly, improve its financial position. Sirna's rapidly rising shares will partly offset Merck's lackluster performance in recent years. According to a report published last week, Merck's third-quarter net profit fell 20% to 144.3 million euros (181.5 million euros a year earlier). The company derives most of its profits from the pharmaceutical business, but about 30% of its revenue comes from the production of chemicals for the production of liquid crystal displays. Therefore, poor financial performance, according to the company's press release, was a consequence of falling demand for LCD TVs and monitors.

The market did not react in favor of Merck to the news of the merger of pharmacists. After the close of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the company's shares fell 45 cents to $45.46 per share. Sirna shares, on the contrary, jumped almost to the level proposed by Merck - $12.74.

Denis UVAROV