The Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis has closed an agreement to take control of the British biotechnology company Myricx Bio for a maximum amount of 1.5 billion dollars (1.312 billion euros), as communicated by the Helvetic company, which seeks with this operation to reinforce its catalog of oncological treatments.
According to the agreed conditions, Novartis will disburse 1.1 billion dollars (962 million euros) initially, while the rest, up to 400 million dollars (350 million euros), will be linked to the fulfillment of certain future milestones.
The multinational expects the purchase to be completed in the second half of 2026, once the usual closing conditions, including the authorizations of the competent regulators, have been met or, as the case may be, waived.
"Myricx Bio has developed a promising NMTi (N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor) delivery platform with a differentiated mechanism that could expand the use of ADCs (antibody-drug conjugates) in various types of tumors," declared Fiona Marshall, president of Biomedical Research at Novartis.