Novartis has agreed to buy Myricx Bio, a small British oncology company, for up to $1.5bn, adding an early-stage but potentially significant technology to a cancer pipeline the industry keeps racing to expand.
The Swiss group will pay $1.1bn upfront, with up to $400m more tied to milestones, in a deal that fits the pattern of large pharma companies reaching into European biotech for the next generation of targeted therapies. It is a bet on science that has not yet reached patients.
Myricx is not a household name, and for good reason: it is pre-clinical, meaning its lead programmes have not begun human trials. What it offers is a novel payload for antibody-drug conjugates, the class of medicines that has become one of oncology’s most competitive battlegrounds.
An ADC works like a guided weapon, using an antibody to carry a toxic drug directly to a tumour cell, and Myricx’s pitch is a new kind of warhead.
The specific chemistry is a mouthful. Myricx is developing N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors, or NMTi, as the toxic component of its conjugates, an approach the company argues can get around the resistance and toxicity that limit many existing ADCs.The 💜 of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
