The biopharmaceutical firm The Medicines Company has developed a drug candidate in the form of inclisiran to reduce cholesterol levels. At the moment, it is in clinical phase III, as outlined in a press release issued by Novartis. If the drug candidate receives authorization, it would be the first of its kind. According to the press release, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan expects that the drug could fundamentally change treatments for certain cardiovascular diseases. Tens of millions of patients are affected by diseases of this kind. For this reason, Novartis is planning to acquire The Medicines Company. The Novartis management has reached an agreement with the Board of Directors of The Medicines Company, which is headquartered in the US state of New Jersey, on an acquisition price of 85 US dollars per share, which comes to an overall transaction volume of 9.7 billion dollars. The takeover is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2020.
“Novartis has a long-standing history of delivering breakthrough cardiovascular treatments for patients, and I am very excited about the opportunity to add inclisiran to our cardiovascular portfolio”, commented Marie-France Tschudin, President, Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
The Medicines Company is planning to submit authorization applications for inclisiran by the end of this year in the USA and by early 2020 in Europe. Following authorization, the drug would generate earnings for Novartis from 2021 onwards. Moreover, expanding this portfolio would enable Novartis to leverage its core commercial capabilities both in the USA and globally too.
