Novartis to Acquire Gene Therapy Developer AveXis for $8.7B

Novartis said today it has agreed to acquire AveXis for $8.7 billion cash, in a deal intended to bolster both the buyer’s neuroscience portfolio and its presence in gene therapy with a promising gene therapy candidate for type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA).AveXis’ lead candidate AVXS-101 has already generated positive clinical results: In November, the company published Phase I data in The New England Journal of Medicineshowing that all spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1 infant p