In another multibillion-dollar effort to bolster its oncology portfolio, Merck & Co. has agreed to pay US$2.75 B in cash to acquire VelosBio, a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing cancer therapies targeting receptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 1 (ROR1). With the deal, Merck gains access to VelosBio’s lead Phase II asset VLS-101, as well as a preclinical pipeline of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) and bispecific antibodies targeting ROR1. The deal comes just two months after Merck pledged up to US$4.5 B in two ADC collaborations with Seattle Genetics, cementing its foothold in this space.