Novartis
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The new plant will give Novartis end-to-end capabilities centered on North Carolina, where it plans to have five facilities across three sites.
Phase 2 data from PTC Therapeutics showed that the Novartis-partnered Huntington’s disease asset slowed progression by more than 50%. Analysts say the decision to initiate a last-stage trial reflects a lack of confidence in an accelerated FDA nod.
Executives insist Novartis will return to growth in the second half, but for Q1 2026, generic erosion drove a 5% drop in revenue, including a 46% nosedive for blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto.
In recent months, Anthropic has been building more and more ties with the biopharma industry, including partnerships with Big Pharma companies such as Sanofi, Novo Nordisk and AbbVie.
Biogen, Eli Lilly, Merck and Novartis spent more than $20 billion to absorb biotechs with promising or approved drugs; the rare disease space notched approvals for therapies from Denali Therapeutics, Rocket Pharmaceuticals and Biogen; and Wave’s stock lost half its value after its RNA-based obesity candidate failed to impress investors.
The Excellergy acquisition will complement Novartis’ existing allergy profile, anchored by the IgE blocker Xolair that in February 2024 was approved to treat food allergies in children and adults.
Like its pharma peers, Novartis is pouring money into Chinese operations, including expansions and upgrades at an existing manufacturing facility.
Aside from the $2 billion upfront payment, Novartis is also putting up to $1 billion on the line in milestones for Synnovation Therapeutics’ pan-mutant-selective PI3Kα blocker.
The BioSpace team hit the ground running at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month to bring you the news from the streets of San Francisco.
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