Vertex to acquire Crinetics Pharmaceuticals for $85 per share in cash

Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Crinetics Pharmaceuticals entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger on July 6, 2026, under which each outstanding share of Crinetics common stock will be canceled and converted into the right to receive $85.00 per share in cash, without interest and subject to applicable withholding taxes.¹ The transaction carries a $10 billion equity valuation, or $8.8 billion net of cash, and was unanimously approved by both companies' boards.¹

The parties expect the merger and related transactions to close in the third quarter of 2026.¹ Closing is subject to several conditions, including adoption of the merger agreement by holders of at least a majority of outstanding Crinetics shares and expiration of the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period.¹ Consummation of the merger is not subject to a financing condition.¹

Vertex plans to fund the deal using cash on hand and new debt financing, including a $4.5 billion unsecured 364-day bridge loan facility committed by Bank of America, N.A., BofA Securities, Inc. and Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc.¹

Crinetics' portfolio includes PALSONIFY, described as the first and only once-daily oral therapy for adults with acromegaly, which is FDA and EMA approved with a U.S. launch in October 2025, and atumelnant, a once-daily oral ACTH receptor antagonist in development for congenital adrenal hyperplasia and being studied in ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome.¹

If Crinetics accepts a superior proposal or its board changes its recommendation, the company may be required to pay Vertex a termination fee of $350,474,425.¹ The agreement also sets an outside date, providing for termination if the merger has not closed by January 6, 2027, subject to a possible three-month extension.¹