Genmab’s $8 Billion Bet: What The Merus Deal Could Unlock!

Genmab A/S is making headlines again, this time by sealing the U.S. leveraged finance market’s biggest M&A funding since April with a $4.5 billion raise through junk bonds and a leveraged loan. The Danish biotech giant is gearing up to acquire Merus N.V., a smaller Dutch peer, in a proposed $8 billion transaction announced on September 29, 2025. This bold move comes amid Genmab’s rapidly scaling commercial operations and late-stage pipeline expansion, headlined by drugs like EPKINLY and Rina-S. CEO Jan van de Winkel has framed the Merus acquisition as a transformative step toward Genmab’s vision of becoming a fully integrated global biotech leader with a 100% owned model. The proposed acquisition brings petosemtamab (peto), a promising EGFR bispecific candidate with two Breakthrough Therapy Designations, into Genmab’s fold. As the company looks to finalize the deal in Q1 2026, here are the four key areas where Genmab could unlock strategic synergies from the Merus acquisition.