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Pharmaceuticals giant to acquire Viralytics
Baker McKenzie has advised what is described as one of the world’s largest pharmaceuticals company on its impending acquisition of Australian-owned Viralytics.
Emma Musgrave
Firm: Baker McKenzie (Merck & Co., Inc.)
Value: $502 million
Area: M&A
Key players: The Baker McKenzie legal team was led by partner David Holland, with assistance from senior associate Gabriella Plummer and a due diligence team across most practice groups of the firm.
Deal significance: MSD is described as one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, while Viralytics is an Australian publicly traded company focused on oncolytic immunotherapy treatments for a range of cancers.
Its lead product, CAVATAK® (CVA21), is a proprietary formulation of an oncolytic virus that has been shown to preferentially infect and kill cancer cells, according to a statement from Baker McKenzie.
“We were delighted to act for our client, MSD, on its entry into this agreement,” said Baker McKenzie partner David Holland.
“We look forward to working with MSD and Viralytics towards completion of the transaction, which will give MSD full rights to CAVATAK, allowing MSD to build on the years of significant work of the Viralytics team and realise the potential of CAVATAK for the benefit of patients globally.”
The transaction is expected to be complete by June 2018.
Emma Musgrave
Emma Musgrave (née Ryan) is the managing editor, professional services at Momentum Media.
Emma has worked for Momentum Media since 2015, including five years spent as the editor of the company's legal brand - Lawyers Weekly. Throughout her time at Momentum, she has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest stories in corporate Australia. In addition, she has produced exclusive multimedia and event content related to the company's respective brands and audiences.
Prior to joining Momentum Media, Emma worked in breakfast radio, delivering news to the Central West region of NSW, before taking on a radio journalist role at Southern Cross Austereo, based in Townsville, North Queensland.
She holds a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) degree from Charles Sturt University.
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