Verona Pharma plc - American Depositary Shares (VRNA)

In today's session, these stocks are experiencing unusual volume.

Wall Street rose on Wednesday as investors shrugged off fresh trade uncertainty after the White House delayed the start of new tariffs to Aug. 1, raising hopes for new rounds of negotiations.

The session on Wednesday is off to an intriguing start with several stocks showing significant price gaps. Let's examine the gap up and gap down stocks in today's session.

Merck is acquiring Verona Pharma for $10 billion, gaining COPD drug Ohtuvayre as part of its strategy to offset Keytruda's looming patent loss.

The takeover target just launched its first drug last summer. Shares have mostly trended higher since.

As the US market prepares to open on Wednesday, let's get an early glimpse into the pre-market session and identify the stocks leading the pack in terms of gains and losses.

Merck will acquire Verona for $107 per American Depository Share (ADS), each of which represents eight Verona Pharma ordinary shares, for a total transaction value of approximately $10 billion.

Shares of The AES Corporation (NYSE:AES) rose sharply in pre-market trading following reports the company has received takeover interest.

Regeneron and Sanofi's COPD drug itepekimab cut exacerbations by 27% in one Phase 3 trial, while the second trial did not meet its main goal.

The company is working to launch its COPD treatment more broadly. The drug is a non-steroidal nebulizer.

The FDA signed off on Regeneron and Sanofi's Dupixent for patients with uncontrolled COPD.