So Long, Idenix!

(RTTNews) - Shares of Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IDIX) soared more than 230 percent on Monday after Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) announced that it would pay $24.50 per share share in cash for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biopharmaceutical company.

IDIX was one of our stock picks, which we alerted our readers to on Aug.22, 2013, and it was trading around $4.50 then.

Idenix is focused on developing an all-oral, pan-genotypic HCV combination regimen and has three HCV drug candidates in clinical development - two nucleotide prodrugs (IDX21437 and IDX21459) and a NS5A inhibitor (Samatasvir).

Merck's research and development portfolio includes several HCV medicines in development, the most advanced of which is a combination of MK-5172, an investigational HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor and MK-8742, an investigational HCV NS5A replication complex inhibitor, under phase III testing.

The acquisition of Idenix is believed to complement Merck's promising therapies in development and help advance its work to develop a highly effective, once-daily, all oral, ribavirin-free, pan-genotypic regimen that has a duration of treatment as short as possible for millions of patients in need around the world.

The transaction, which values the purchase of Idenix at roughly $3.85 billion, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2014.

Visit Emerging Biostocks (http://www.rttnews.com/Products/EBSService.aspx) for a complete list of our biotech stock picks.