Novartis snaps up another ophthalmic gene therapy company

Pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) today announced that it has acquired fellow Switzerland-based Arctos Medical, adding a pre-clinical optogenetics-based AAV gene therapy program and Arctos’ proprietary technology to its ophthalmology portfolio.

The acquisition, financial terms of which were not disclosed, underscores the Novartis commitment to finding treatments for patients with vision loss and the potential of optogenetics as the basis of successful therapeutics, the company says.

“Optogenetics is emerging as a promising therapeutic approach that might restore sight to patients who are legally blind,” said Jay Bradner, president of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, adding: “The Arctos technology builds on our conviction that optogenetic gene therapies may meaningfully help patients battling devastating eye diseases.”