Kirkland Advises Vertex on $10 Billion Acquisition of Crinetics
Kirkland & Ellis advised Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) on a definitive agreement to acquire Crinetics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRNX), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on endocrine diseases. Under terms of the agreement, Vertex will buy Crinetics for $85.00 per share in cash, for a total equity value of approximately $10 billion, or approximately $8.8 billion net of estimated cash acquired. The transaction was unanimously approved by both the Vertex and Crinetics Boards of Directors and is anticipated to close in the third quarter of 2026. Crinetics’ marketed medicine, PALSONIFY (paltusotine), received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2025 and was recently approved by the European Medicines Agency while being under review by other global regulatory bodies. It is the first and only once-daily oral therapy for adults with acromegaly, a rare and debilitating condition caused by excess growth hormone. Crinetics' most advanced pipeline candidate, atumelnant, is a once-daily oral ACTH receptor antagonist currently in Phase 3 development for congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
Read the transaction press release
The Kirkland team included corporate lawyers Graham Robinson, Laura Knoll and Merric Kaufman; debt finance lawyers Rachael Lichman and Brittany Taylor; tax lawyer Liam Murphy; and technology & IP transaction lawyer Shellie Freedman; antitrust & competition lawyer Maria Raptis; and healthcare regulatory lawyer Will Richmond.
