Novartis acquires Endocyte
Shares of Indiana-based Endocyte have taken up more than 50 percent in pre-market trading following Swiss pharma giant Novartis declared that it was acquiring the company for $2.1 billion in cash. The deal will enable the company to expand its radiopharmaceuticals business.
The announcement of Novartis acquires Endocyte deal came months after Endocyte declared the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted radiographic progression-free survival instead of the main endpoint in its Phase III VISION trial, that will inspect the provider’s Lu-PSMA-617 program for treating metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). The rPFS endpoint will be to survival in addition.
In its announcement, Novartis said Lu-PSMA-617 is a possible treatment for mCRPC. Earlier this year Endocyte published Stage II data that revealed patients dosed with Lu-PSMA-617 saw high levels of PSA response, even those patients who were heavily pretreated.
Novartis said its RLT platform will be expanded by Endocyte’s purchase with a possible product launching and clinical development programs. The company said it will allow Novartis to research Lu-PSMA-617 as a treatment for traces of prostate therapy.
Why Novartis acquires Endocyte?
Chief executive officer of Novartis Oncology, Liz Barrett, said Endocyte’s purchase builds on the business’s growing capacity
in radiopharmaceuticals. She noted that is expected to become a growth driver for the company business, in addition to an important treatment option for patients. Radiopharmaceuticals such as the Lu-PSMA-617 of Endocyte are medicinal formulations containing radioisotopes used clinically for treatment and diagnosis.“We’re also excited about the chance to break in the prostate cancer arena using a near-term product which has the potential to generate a significant impact for patients in good need of more choices,” Barrett said in a statement.
The purchase of Endocyte comes about a year after Novartis snapped French cancer company Advanced Accelerator Applications at a $3.9 billion purchase that supplied a vital radioligand treatment — Lutathera, the first ever approved Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy. Lutathera was approved in January for treating somatostatin-receptor favorable gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs), an orphan disease.
Mike Sherman, Endocyte’s CEO, said the company is thrilled that Novartis sees possible for Lu-PSMA-617 to alter the treatment landscape for mCRPC, in addition to the wider role that radioligand therapies could play in cancer.
“The global reach and experience of Novartis in developing and commercializing RLT therapies will be crucial in efforts for individuals to benefit from such therapies as soon as possible,” Sherman said in a statement.
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