Merus Buyout Rumor Gets Retail Traders Buzzing — Genmab Said To Be Leading The Race

Retail chatter around Merus spiked late on Sunday after a report said Denmark’s Genmab is reportedly in advanced talks to acquire the Dutch biotech, which is developing a potential treatment for head and neck cancer.

Merus’ U.S.-listed stock closed at $68.89 on Friday, up 1.2%, and surged over 19% to $82.03 in overnight trading.

Merus has reportedly received multiple takeover offers from large pharmaceutical companies in recent weeks and could announce a deal within days, although there is no certainty that the talks will result in a transaction, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

If finalized, the deal would be Genmab’s largest acquisition to date, Bloomberg reported. Genmab has a market capitalization of about 118 billion kroner ($18.5 billion), while Merus is valued at around $5.2 billion on the Nasdaq.

Merus’ shares have risen sharply since May, when the company said its experimental drug petosemtamab was more effective than the current standard of care in shrinking tumors in head-and-neck cancer patients when combined with Keytruda. Bloomberg Intelligence has forecast that the drug could become a blockbuster therapy and exceed $1 billion in sales by 2030.

Merus is also testing petosemtamab in advanced colon cancer, a larger and more lucrative potential market. Its smaller rival, Bicara Therapeutics, is developing a treatment for the same condition but remains further behind in development.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for Merus was ‘bullish’ amid ‘high’ message volume, placing the stock among the top ten trending equities on the platform. Meanwhile, Genmab drew ‘extremely bearish’ sentiment amid ‘high’ message volume.

One user congratulated the company on the reported development, while another user asked about the potential buyout price, reflecting curiosity about the rumored deal’s details.

Merus’ U.S.-listed stock has risen 63.8% so far in 2025.

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