Merck Research Laboratories president Dean Li said there is no ideal product mix for the company, but noted cancer drugs will remain a priority given the groundwork Keytruda laid for Merck in oncology.

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma paid $1.1bn to acquire the Israeli biotech in 2017 for a drug that analysts forecast to represent a market opportunity worth up to $1.7bn in peak sales.

During Q3, biopharma merger and acquisition value reached $15.4bn and drew in $37.6bn in potential deal value from alliances. Device company M&A values reached $550m, while in vitro diagnostic firms and research tools players completed M&A activity that totaled $1.9bn.

The major will use the biotech’s brain cell-focused platform technology to discover new targets for Alzheimer’s disease.