Zurich (awp) – Novartis wants to acquire UK-based Gyroscope Therapeutics, a company active in gene therapy for the eye. The Rhine pharmaceutical giant will spend 800 million dollars (740 million Swiss francs) in the form of an initial payment, according to a statement released Wednesday.
Further milestone payments of up to $ 700 million are planned. In total, this acquisition could therefore reach 1.4 billion Swiss francs.
Gyroscope Therapeutics is a laboratory specializing in the treatment of geographic atrophy, an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration that results in progressive and irreversible vision loss. There is no approved treatment to cure this disease, says Novartis.
Gyroscope Therapeutics’ GT005 is a unique experimental gene therapy administered under the retina. It is currently undergoing three Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials and is undergoing an expedited process by the United States Drugs Agency (FDA).
Gyroscope Therapeutics also has other products in early development for diseases of the retina, writes Novartis.
“This acquisition is a further step in our commitment to deliver innovations in ophthalmology to treat and prevent blindness worldwide,” said Marie-France Tschudin, President of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, quoted in the press release. Novartis already offers Luxturna as ocular gene therapy to patients with hereditary retinal dystrophy, she recalls.
On the Swiss stock exchange, the title Novartis ended almost in equilibrium (-0.01%) at 79.35 Swiss francs, while the flagship SMI index took 0.25%.
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