Novartis makes a second bet on radiology, buys Endocyte for US$ 2.1 billion

By PharmaCompass

2018-10-25

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In its ongoing effort to develop targeted radiation treatments for cancer, Swiss drug major Novartis has agreed to pay US$ 2.1 billion cash to acquire Endocyte.

Endocyte’s planned acquisition comes a year after it agreed to license ABX’s radioligand therapeutic (RLT) candidate PSMA-617 for over US$ 172 million, and refocus its development efforts around the prostate cancer treatment.

With the acquisition of Endocyte, Novartis will expand its RLT pipeline of targeted oncology treatments. Novartis and Endocyte expect to close the deal in the first half of 2019.

The Endocyte deal is the second multi-billion dollar buyout Novartis has undertaken this year. In April, it paid US$ 8.7 billion to acquire AveXis, which has a gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy in late-stage testing.

The acquisition gives Novartis access to experimental drugs meant to precisely deliver radiation to a tumor. Endocyte’s experimental treatments attach a radioactive therapeutic atom to a ligand, a molecule that can bind to receptors on the surface of cancer cells. These radioligand therapies are supposed to shrink tumors while sparing healthy tissue from the toxic effects of radiation.

Endocyte’s Phase III lead candidate, 177Lu-PSMA-617, is designed to target the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) by delivering the short-range beta-emitting radioactive isotope lutetium (177Lu) selectively to tumor cells while bypassing non-PSMA-expressing healthy cells.

Last year, Novartis had signed a US$ 3.9 billion deal to acquire Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA). In January this year, AAA won FDA approval for lutetium Lu 177 dotate (Lutathera) — a radiotherapy for neuroendocrine tumors.

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