Wednesday, July 25, 2007

NovaCardia Acquired By Merck

San Diego-based NovaCardia, a biopharmaceutical firm developing treatments for cardiovascular disease, has been acquired by Merck & Co. in a $350M deal. Merck said today that it is in a definitive agreement to acquire NovaCardia in an all-stock deal. Merck said that it will acquire all of the outstanding equity of NovaCardia for $350M plus amount of cash on hand. NovaCardia's lead product candidate is a treatment for acute congestive heart failure. NovaCardia is backed by Domain Associates, Forward Ventures, Montreux Equity Partners, Versant Ventures, Skyline Ventures, and InterWest Partners. The firm most recently raised a round of funding in 2006, worth $48M, and had been poised for an IPO on the NASDAQ.

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