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Novartis NVS has entered into a global license and collaboration agreement with PTC Therapeutics PTCT for the latter’s Huntington's disease candidate to strengthen NVS’ neuroscience pipeline.
NVS also announced a collaboration with Olema Pharmaceuticals, Inc. OLMA for a breast cancer drug.
Year to date, shares of Novartis have risen 3.8% compared with the industry’s growth of 8.9%.
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NVS’ Licensing Deal With PTCT
Novartis will in-license PTC Therapeutics’ PTC518. The candidate is an oral disease-modifying therapy in development for Huntington's disease.
NVS will assume responsibility for the development, manufacturing and commercialization of the candidate following the completion of the placebo-controlled portion of the ongoing phase II PIVOT-HD study.
Interim results, reported in June 2024, demonstrated that PTC518 treatment resulted in durable, dose-dependent reduction in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) mutant Huntingtin protein (HTT) levels as well as early signals of dose-dependent benefit on key clinical measurements at 12 months.
The study is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025.
Novartis will make an upfront payment of $1.0 billion to PTCT and the latter will also be eligible for up to $1.9 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestones. NVS will also share profits in the United States (40% PTC and 60% Novartis) and pay tiered royalties on ex-US sales.
The cash influx impressed PTCT’s investors and shares of the company gained on the announcement. PTCT expects to use the proceeds from this transaction to expand its splicing platform as well as support commercial and development portfolio activities.
The collaboration combines PTC's expertise in developing small molecule splicing therapies with Novartis' expertise in global development and commercialization of neuroscience therapies.
The agreement is expected to be closed in the first quarter of 2025. The deal strengthens NVS’ neuroscience pipeline. NVS has approved drugs like Kesimpta and Zolgensma in its portfolio.
NVS’ Deal With OLMA
Novartis has entered into a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Olema for a late-stage study.
Palazestrant is a novel, orally available small molecule with dual activity as a complete estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist and selective ER degrader. It is currently being investigated in patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic ER-positive (ER+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) breast cancer.