Dyadic International Inc (DYAI)

[dennisczy]

I was reading about GlycoFi, which Merck acquired back in 2006 for 400 mil. GlycoFi successfully engineered the Yeast glycan structure and that is the reason why Merck bought it.

I came across several statements that I believe are relevant to DYAI.

"Whitehouse Station, NJ-based Merck (NYSE:MRK) revealed in December that it had launched a follow-on biologics unit called Merck BioVentures, capitalizing on GlycoFi’s recombinant yeast technology, to enable the company to develop copies of protein-based drugs faster and cheaper than the competition. And many of the special yeast strains that Merck BioVentures will use to produce the biologics will be engineered right at GlycoFi’s Lebanon laboratories, Barry Buckland, vice president of bioprocess research and development at Merck, tells me. Merck is also using the GlycoFi technology, he notes, to develop novel drugs."

"Yet, as Gerngross told Xconomy in 2014, he had his regrets about the GlycoFi deal. He didn’t agree with Merck’s plan to use GlycoFi to create so-called “bio betters,” or slightly cheaper/structurally similar versions of existing biotech drugs, likening it to buying a calculator and using it to nail in nails. In 2014, Gerngross said Merck had gained a better appreciation over the years of what to do with GlycoFi’s technology, such as harnessing its ability to make new molecules—“that’s where the value proposition is,” he said—though he didn’t provide details. It’s unclear what came of those efforts."

"But by 2010, it became clear that the biosimilars move hadn’t gone as well for Merck as they’d been hoping. In 2013, the company signed another biosimilars deal that seemed to mostly leave it in the regulatory/marketing end of the business, while the R&D was done elsewhere, which made the whole GlycoFi acquisition look less compelling. The InVivo Blog speculated on this situation in 2014, but by then Merck had already been moving the scattered parts of the GlycoFi operation into one new central location at the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center."



My interpretation

- I believe that these 3 statements potentially indicate that Merck is might be interested in DYAI as a potential acquisiton candidate, given that Barry Buckland is a now director in DYAI, and was also involved with GlycoFi.

- given Merck's interest in making Bio Betters and DYAI's potential to make them. As seen from the statement that "it's unclear what came of those efforts", it probably means that Merck's the attempts did not result in anything significant.

- same thing with the biosimilars.

- on the other hand, it could also mean that Merck might be more careful with potential acquisitions after the glycoFi case.



https://xconomy.com/boston/2009/04/23/glycofi-figures-heavily-into-drug-giant-mercks-follow-on-biologics-plans/

https://xconomy.com/boston/2016/05/17/gerngross-mulls-buying-back-glycofi-after-merck-closes-hq/

https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2016/05/17/merck-closes-down-glycofi