Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis AG has announced its agreement to acquire U.S.-based biotech firm Avidity Biosciences Inc. in a landmark $12 billion cash deal. The acquisition marks Novartis’s largest in over a decade and is aimed at strengthening its pipeline of treatments for rare muscle disorders and addressing looming patent expirations on several blockbuster drugs.
Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis will pay $72 per share in cash, representing a 46% premium over Avidity’s closing price on Friday. The deal has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to close in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals and customary conditions.
Avidity Biosciences, headquartered in San Diego, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering a new class of RNA therapeutics known as Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs™). The company is currently developing treatments for neuromuscular diseases, including myotonic dystrophy type 1, which causes progressive muscle loss and weakness. Two of its lead drug candidates are projected to have multibillion-dollar sales potential by 2030.
As part of the transaction, Avidity will spin off its early-stage precision cardiology programs into a separate publicly traded entity named SpinCo, allowing Novartis to focus on the more advanced assets in Avidity’s portfolio.
Novartis has been actively pursuing strategic acquisitions to offset the impact of upcoming patent cliffs for key drugs such as Entresto (heart failure), Xolair (asthma), and Cosentyx (autoimmune diseases). The Avidity deal is seen as a bold step to diversify and future-proof its therapeutic offerings.
