Novartis has agreed to acquire Avidity Biosciences Inc., a San Diego-based, biopharmaceutical company focused on a new class of therapeutics enabling RNA delivery to muscle. The acquisition will follow the separation of Avidity’s early-stage precision cardiology programs.

Avidity is committed to delivering a new class of pioneering RNA therapeutics called Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs) for serious, genetic neuromuscular diseases. The proposed acquisition will bring Avidity’s late-stage neuroscience programs into Novartis and provide Novartis access to a differentiated RNA-targeting delivery platform. These programs are expected to advance the company’s neuroscience strategy and complement the current pipeline with potential first-in-class therapeutic candidates that address the genetic drivers of muscle-damaging conditions.

“Avidity’s pioneering AOC platform for RNA therapeutics ​and its late-stage assets bolster our commitment to delivering innovative, targeted and potentially first-in-class medicines to treat devastating, progressive neuromuscular diseases,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. “The Avidity team has built robust programs with industry-leading delivery of RNA therapeutics to muscle tissue. We look forward to developing these programs to meaningfully change the trajectory of diseases for patients.”

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