Novartis
NEWS
By far, the largest acquisition of 2024 was Novo Holdings’ yet-to-be-closed buyout of manufacturer Catalent at $16.5 billion. Outside of that, the leading pharmaceutical companies kept to less than $5 billion per deal.
Novartis is seeking to prevent the entry of generics for its blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto, its top-selling asset that brought in more than $6 billion in net global sales last year.
Novartis, Gilead, Roche and Takeda commit to new partners in a spate of mid-sized collaborations this week. Meanwhile, Applied Therapeutics’ stock tanks 80% after govorestat is denied approval, Intra-Cellular Therapies seeks to expand Caplyta into major depressive disorder and the FDA investigates the safety of bluebird bio’s Skysona.
Monday’s agreement comes days after PTC discontinued the development of another asset, utreloxastat, due to disappointing Phase II data in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
BridgeBio’s Attruby wins approval for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy while the FDA accepts Alnylam’s application for Amvuttra in the indication; Cassava’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug flunks Phase III; Amgen’s MariTide fails to impress investors, Donald Trump’s controversial nominations continue.
Novartis has disclosed roughly $19.4 billion in deals in the past five years. CEO Vas Narasimhan says there’s more to come.
Novartis’ up to $1.1 billion acquisition of gene therapy specialist Kate Therapeutics fits with the pharma’s plan to expand its new modality pipeline to ensure long-term business sustainability.
The deal has secured Novartis the chance to work with Ratio Therapeutics on a novel drug candidate that could fortify the Big Pharma against competition from would-be radiopharmaceutical rivals such as BMS and Lilly.
A suit against Novartis and Vitaris by Henrietta Lacks’ estate hinges on questions about the morality and legality of using the line for biopharmaceutical research.
JOBS
IN THE PRESS