[BERN] Novartis agreed to buy Tourmaline Bio in a deal valued at about US$1.4 billion as the Swiss drugmaker continues to pursue bolt-on deals to boost its drug pipeline.
The Swiss drugmaker will pay US$48 per share in cash for the New York-based biotech, which is developing a promising treatment to reduce systemic inflammation, a major driver of cardiovascular disease.
This reflects a premium of about 60 per cent to Tourmaline Bio’s closing price of about US$30 on Monday. The shares are up nearly 72 per cent in the 12 months through Monday’s close. Novartis stock fell slightly in early trading on Tuesday, but remains up about 15 per cent since the start of the year.
Novartis has been on the hunt for acquisitions that could boost its sales beyond 2025. The company is facing competition from cheap generics later this year for three key drugs, including its top-selling heart medicine Entresto. In April, the company also agreed to buy US biotech Regulus Therapeutics in a deal that could be valued up to US$1.7 billion.
Chief executive officer Vas Narasimhan has spent years revamping the company’s ageing portfolio and has narrowed the company’s focus to innovative medicines in specific types of diseases. In April, Novartis raised its outlook for the year after profit beat estimates in the first quarter, driven by medicines for breast cancer, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.
Tourmaline is focused on developing an anti-IL-6 IgG2 antibody drug called pacibekitug to treat atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, or ASCVD, Novartis said on Tuesday (Sep 9).
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ASCVD is caused by plaque buildup in the arterial walls. Related conditions, including coronary heart disease and peripheral artery disease, remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally, according to the American Heart Association.
“With no widely adopted anti-inflammatory therapies currently available for cardiovascular risk reduction, pacibekitug represents a potential breakthrough in addressing residual inflammatory risk in ASCVD,” Novartis’ President of Development and Chief Medical Officer Shreeram Aradhye said in the statement.
“This deal makes strategic sense as it complements Novartis’s cardiovascular franchise that focuses on high, unmet need in cardiovascular diseases,” Stefan Schneider, an analyst at Vontobel wrote in a note.
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The transaction has been approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025. BLOOMBERG
