Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced this Sunday that it has reached an agreement to buy Avidity Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, USA, valued at 12 billion dollars (10 billion euros).
“The agreement, once finalized, is expected to create a giant in the (pharmaceutical) industry, leveraging Novartis’ experience in spinal muscular atrophy and its commercialization capabilities in genetic neuromuscular diseases,” Novartis said in a statement.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026 and will be followed by the separation of Avidity’s early-stage precision cardiology programs into a new company.
Holders of Avidity common shares will receive $72 (about 62 euros at the current exchange rate) per share in cash at the conclusion of the deal, representing a 46% premium over the share price at the close of trading on Friday, Novartis said.
The agreement values the company “at approximately 12 billion dollars on a fully diluted basis and represents an enterprise value of approximately 11 billion dollars (9 billion euros)” on the date of completion of the deal, the Swiss company added.
Avidity Biosciences is developing antibody-oligonucleotide conjugates (AOC) to treat serious diseases, with an initial focus on rare genetic neuromuscular diseases.
Avidity’s proprietary platform is designed to enable targeted delivery of RNA-based therapies to muscle tissue, thereby modulating disease-causing genetic mechanisms.
“Avidity’s pioneering AOC platform for RNA-based therapies and its late-stage assets reinforce our commitment to delivering innovative, targeted and potentially first-of-its-kind medicines to treat progressive and devastating neuromuscular diseases,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis.
“The Avidity team has developed robust programs for cutting-edge delivery of RNA-based therapies into muscle tissue. We look forward to expanding these programs to significantly change the disease trajectory for patients,” he added in a statement.
Pharmaceutical companies are under enormous pressure from the Administration of US President Donald Trump to transfer their production to the USA.
Novartis, based in Basel, northern Switzerland, announced in April that it intends to invest 23 billion dollars (more than 19 billion euros) in the USA over five years.
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