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3. Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTX)

Cidara Therapeutics climbed by 721.76 percent in 2025, primarily bolstered by its looming merger with Merck for $9.2 billion.

In an announcement last November, Cidara Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTX) said that it signed a definitive agreement with Merck, under which the latter’s subsidiary would acquire the former’s issued and outstanding shares at a price of $221.50 apiece. At that time, the acquisition price represented a 108 percent premium over Cidara Therapeutics Inc.’s (NASDAQ:CDTX) closing price of $105.99 on November 13, or prior to the announcement of the deal.

The acquisition followed Cidara Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTX) receipt of a fast track designation from the Food and Drug Administration for its drug candidate, CD388, which aims to prevent influenza in individuals at higher risk of complications.

The CD388 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 3 study among 6,000 adult and adolescent participants in the US and the UK who are at higher risk of developing complications from influenza.

“This acquisition expands and complements our respiratory portfolio and pipeline. Influenza continues to pose a significant global health threat, causing widespread illness, morbidity and death each year especially in older adults and immunocompromised individuals, such as those with cancer and chronic diseases,” said Merck Research Laboratories President Dean Li.

“CD388 is a novel late-phase candidate with important strain-agnostic properties being evaluated for the prevention of symptomatic influenza in high-risk individuals.”

The merger is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals.