Health Care Climbs After Verona Deal - Health Care Roundup

Health-care companies rose as deal activity offset more health-insurance controversy.

Merck struck a roughly $10 billion deal to buy Verona Pharma, bolstering its lineup with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment Ohtuvayre as it braces for the 2028 loss of patent exclusivity for the blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda.

Shares of Verona rose by more than 10%, and Merck investors also applauded the deal, sending shares of the Big Pharma company higher.

The Justice Department's criminal health-care fraud unit is investigating UnitedHealth Group's Medicare billing practices, following allegations of impropriety over how the troubled insurance giant deployed doctors and nurses to gather diagnoses that bolstered its payments.

Measles cases in the U.S. have hit a three-decade high, reaching the highest yearly total since 1992 in less than seven months, according to data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Write to Rob Curran at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-09-25 1724ET