Novartis expands neuroscience pipeline with $500 million acquisition

DTx Pharma, a San Diego, USA-based pre-clinical stage biotechnology company addressing the delivery challenges of oligonucleotide therapeutics with its Fatty Acid Ligand Conjugated OligoNucleotide (FALCON) platform, today announced that it has been acquired by Swiss pharm giant Novartis (NOVN: VX).

DTx Pharma's lead program is currently in pre-clinical development, with US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Orphan Drug designation, for the treatment of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease Type 1A (CMT1A). CMT1A is a progressive, neuromuscular, autosomal-dominant disease that can lead to life-long loss of muscle function and disability.

Currently, there are no approved therapeutics addressing PMP22, the underlying genetic cause of CMT1A, for the estimated 150,000 patients living with the debilitating disease in the USA and Europe, according to DTx.