Disc Medicine launches $350M public offering of common stock and pre-funded warrants. * Biopharmaceutical company Disc Medicine (IRON) announced on Monday the commencement of an underwritten public offering of $350M of its common stock and pre-funded warrants. * The company also said that it intends to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $52.5M of shares of its common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. * Disc intends to use the net proceeds from the proposed offering, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities, to fund research and clinical development of its current or additional product candidates, to support the potential commercialization of bitopertin for erythropoietic protoporphyria and X-linked protoporphyria, and additional pre-commercialization activities for its other product candidates, and the remainder for working capital and other general corporate purposes. * Source: Press Release Fresh Stock Ideas, Every Day Explore diverse investing perspectives with daily analysis from experts across the market.

Merck KGaA makes noise in hematology with $1.1B Silence buy. October 19, 2026 | Silence Therapeutics' lead siRNA asset for the rare blood cancer polycythemia vera has been earning analyst raves in a tight race to challenge Takeda in a potential $2 billion market. Germany's Merck KGaA is making a commotion in the rare disease space with the $1.1 billion acquisition of RNA specialist Silence Therapeutics and the biotech's Phase 3 asset for polycythemia vera divesiran. The deal gives Merck KGaA "an entry point into hematology," Danny Bar-Zohar, member of the pharma's executive board and CEO of healthcare, said in a Monday statement. U.K.-based Silence focuses on short interfering RNA (siRNA), developing therapies designed to quiet disease-associated genes without permanently altering DNA. Silence investors will receive $20 per share, representing an 82% premium on the biotech's 30-day average price of $10.99, according to a Monday press release. The $1.1 billion represents the enterprise value while Merck KGaA noted that the equity value is about $1.3 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027. "We believe that the deal makes sense for Silence ADS holders given the interest in divesiran in polycythemia vera (PV) and need to conduct a Phase III trial in a competitive space with likely new CEO leadership," William Blair wrote Monday morning. Mergers and acquisitions are not just for Big Pharma. A new report from Leerink Partners takes a stab at identifying the small- to mid-cap pharmas best prepared to bolster their pipelines with a buyout. October 29, 2025 Silence has been helmed by interim executive officer Iain Ross since December 2025, when CEO Craig Tooman agreed to depart the company. Merck KGaA will gain a clutch of rare disease assets, including divesiran, which is currently in Phase 2 development for PV and in earlier-stage research for other blood disorders. Silence also has four cardiometabolic programs, led by mid-stage candidate zerlasiran. Silence also has a partnership with AstraZeneca to develop therapies for cardiovascular, cardiometabolic, renal and respiratory diseases. The pharma recently handed Silence back the rights to SLN312, which is in Phase 1 testing for dyslipidemia. Merck KGaA's recent deals have centered on the rare disease space, including the 2025 acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics that delivered a drug for the rare tumor disease neurofibromatosis. "Following the acquisition of SpringWorks Therapeutics last year, we continue to transform our pipeline toward areas of high specialization and unmet medical need, with an ongoing commitment to external innovation," Kai Beckmann, chairman of Merck KGaA's executive board and group CEO, said on Monday. "The proposed transaction follows our strategic priority to address attractive end markets also through M&A, creating value over the mid- to long-term." Indeed, analysts pointed to Merck KGaA as a likely buyer a year ago after the pharma suffered a series of clinical blows, such as the failure and discontinuation of evobrutinib in multiple sclerosis. The deal comes just as Silence's rival in PV, Disc Medicine, scored a major clinical win in erythropoietic protoporphyria. The two have been trading clinical data in PV, with analysts declaring Silence's divesiran the likely front runner in the race to market. PV is a rare type of blood cancer, or chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm, characterized by the proliferation of red blood cells that can lead to elevated hematocrit levels. This can in turn lead to an increased risk of death from cardiovascular and thrombotic events. The polycythemia vera field is heating up, with Disc Medicine and Silence Therapeutics each advancing next-generation therapies, playing catch-up to Takeda and Protagonist Therapeutics, who won the FDA's approval last month for Mimrylo. September 11, 2026 In August, Silence reported that divesiran led to an 88% clinical response rate in treated patients, compared with 19% in placebo controls, during the Phase 2 SANRECO trial. William Blair declared the results "best-in-field" for PV. Divesiran is designed to silence the TMPRSS6 gene, which is involved in the regulation of hepcidin that the body uses as a regulator of iron metabolism, Merck KGaA explained in the release. By increasing hepcidin levels, the drug limits iron availability for red blood cell production. This should reduce the need for frequent blood withdrawals that patients undergo as a form of treatment. Also in SANRECO, divesiran resulted in 0.2 blood draws per patient as compared to 2.1 for those who received placebo through week 36. Silence was also facing Takeda, which achieved approval for Mimrylo in PV this August. The Japanese company has forecast peak sales of $1-2 billion for the asset. William Blair said Merck KGaA appears to have gotten a bit of a deal given Silence also comes with a broader technology platform. "The deal valuation does appear inexpensive considering Merck KGaA also gets the broader mRNAi GOLD siRNA platform as well," the firm wrote. "However, this deal takes the execution risk off the table in an increasingly competitive space and delivers near-term shareholder value from what appears to be a competitive bid process." Annalee Armstrong is an award-winning biopharma journalist covering the business of drug development. She has been a journalist for more than 18 years, covering the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for the last eight. She is senior editor at BioSpace and curates the Biopharm Executive newsletter every Wednesday. You can reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on LinkedIn.

Disc Medicine faces investor investigations over FDA letter. WATERTOWN, MA - September 26, 2026 (STL.News) Disc Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: IRON) is facing continued scrutiny from multiple securities law firms over disclosures surrounding bitopertin, its experimental treatment for erythropoietic protoporphyria, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve the company's application earlier this year and requested additional clinical evidence. Rosen Law Firm issued another investor notice Saturday, Sept. 26, saying it continues to investigate potential securities claims on behalf of Disc Medicine shareholders. Rosen alleges the biotechnology company may have issued materially misleading business information to investors and says it is preparing a prospective class action