Spencer Knight, Business Development Director – Biotechnology at Hartmann Young, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Breaking News: Novartis to Acquire Avidity Bio for $12B
Novartis is strengthening its late-stage neuroscience portfolio by acquiring Avidity Biosciences for $72 per share in cash, valuing the RNA and Neuromuscular biotech at approximately $12 billion.
Key Highlights:
- Delpacibart zotadirsen (AOC 1044) – Late-stage program for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)
- Delpacibart etedesiran (AOC 1001) – Late-stage program for myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1)
- Delpacibart braxlosiran (AOC 1020) – Late-stage program for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD)
All three candidates are in registrational studies with peak sales projected at $420M, $4.3B, and $3.2B, respectively. Acquisition follows the planned spin-off of Avidity’s early cardiology programs into a new public company, SpinCo.
Great to see diseases such as FSHD, DMD and DM1 being highlighted.
This deal accelerates Novartis’ expansion in rare neuromuscular diseases and strengthens its proprietary RNA-targeting platform. Avidity’s groundbreaking work in antibody oligonucleotide conjugates (AOCs™) now has a global stage.
Congratulations to the teams at Novartis and Avidity Biosciences for driving innovation forward for patients!”
More from Novartis on OncoDaily.