Novartis has been investing heavily in its cardiovascular pipeline this year, forging partnerships with Flagship startup ProFound Therapeutics and China’s Argo Biopharmaceutical, among others.
For the fourth time this year, Novartis is using its wallet to beef up its heart disease pipeline, acquiring New York-based Tourmaline Bio.
Under the terms of the deal, announced early on Tuesday, Novartis, through an “indirect, wholly owned” but undisclosed subsidiary, will purchase all of Tourmaline’s outstanding shares for $48 apiece—an offer that, according to analysts at Truist Securities, represents a roughly 60% premium on the biotech’s closing trade price on Monday. All told, the acquisition agreement values Tourmaline at around $1.4 billion on a fully diluted basis.
Truist, in a Tuesday morning note, called the transaction “a good deal” given the pharma’s “strong footprint” in the cardiovascular space. The companies expect to complete the buyout in the fourth quarter, pending customary conditions. The respective boards of directors of both companies have already unanimously signed off on the arrangement.
Shares of Tourmaline were up 13% at close Monday and are up 58% in pre-market trading Tuesday.
The centerpiece of the acquisition is pacibekitug, an investigational monoclonal antibody that works by targeting the IL-6 protein and is being trialed for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). In May, Tourmaline presented topline data from the Phase II TRANQUILITY study, touting a “rapid, deep, and durable” reduction in levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, a key marker of inflammation linked to elevated cardiovascular disease.
At the time, Tourmaline positioned findings from TRANQUILITY as the “starting point” of the clinical development program of pacibekitug in ASCVD and other cardiovascular conditions.
Pacibekitug “represents a potential breakthrough” in lowering residual inflammation in ASCVD patients, Novartis Chief Medical Officer Shreeram Aradhye said in a statement on Tuesday. Novartis has yet to provide details regarding its plans for pacibekitug moving forward.
Tuesday’s acquisition of Tourmaline comes shortly after Novartis expanded its partnership with China’s Argo Biopharmaceutical. The pharma last week paid $160 million upfront and pledged up to $5.2 billion in milestone payments to collaborate on “multiple” RNAi assets for cardiovascular disease, as well as leveraging the biotech’s siRNA drug development platform. Argo and Novartis first partnered in January 2024.
Novartis in February also put $3.1 billion on the line to acquire private biotech Anthos Therapeutics and regain the rights to its anticoagulant antibody abelacimab. Then, in June, the pharma entered into a multi-target arrangement with Flagship Pioneering’s ProFound Therapeutics to develop novel protein therapies for cardiovascular conditions. This agreement involved a $25 million upfront payment and up to $750 million in milestones per target.
