Merck to buy cancer drug developer Peloton for $1.05 bln in cash

Adds details on Peloton's drug candidate, IPO filing, background

May 21 (Reuters) - Merck & Co Inc MRK.N said on Tuesday it would buy Peloton Therapeutics Inc for $1.05 billion in cash to gain access to the privately held company's renal cancer drug candidate.

The company's lead drug candidate, PT2977, will be studied in a late-stage study for treating renal cell carcinoma.

Peloton shareholders will be eligible to receive a further $1.15 billion on achieving certain milestones.

The company had been looking to go public and gave a pricing range of $15 to $17 per share for its initial public offering last week.

Credit Suisse acted as financial adviser for Merck and Covington & Burling LLP as its legal adviser. Centerview Partners was financial adviser to Peloton and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati was its legal adviser.

(Reporting by Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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