Signage for Novartis AG at a constructing within the firm’s headquarters campus in Basel, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 8, 2023.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
Swiss pharmaceutical big Novartis is nearing a deal to purchase biotechnology firm Avidity Biosciences for greater than $70 a share, Bloomberg Information reported, citing an individual accustomed to the matter.
A deal could possibly be introduced as early as Sunday, the report stated.
Novartis and Avidity did not instantly reply to CNBC’s requests for remark.
Avidity makes a speciality of creating an modern class of ribonucleic acid (RNA) therapeutics known as antibody oligonucleotide conjugates. RNA-based therapeutics are a comparatively new class of medicines that work by altering how genes are expressed to deal with or stop ailments.
The reported discussions come as Novartis ramps up its analysis and improvement division. The corporate earlier this yr pledged to take a position $23 billion to construct out its U.S.-based infrastructure, which incorporates plans to assemble a second R&D hub in San Diego.
The corporate has additionally struck two key offers with Anthos Therapeutics and Regulus Therapeutics this yr to spice up its improvement and manufacturing of cardiovascular and kidney illness medication.
Avidity shares closed at $49.15 on Friday. The inventory, which has a market capitalization of roughly $7.2 billion, is up practically 70% because the starting of the yr. Novartis shares closed at $130.36 on Friday.
