Novartis punts up to $2.9 billion on PTC518 Huntington's disease program

USA-based rare disease drug developer PTC Therapeutics (Nasdaq: PTCT) has signed an exclusive global license and collaboration agreement with Swiss pharm giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) for its PTC518 Huntington's disease program, which includes related molecules. The news sent PTC’s shares rocketing 18.5% to $52.00 in pre-market activity.

"PTC518 is the leading oral disease-modifying therapy in development for Huntington's disease and the economics of this agreement are consistent with the promise of this treatment," said Dr Matthew Klein, chief executive of PTC Therapeutics. "This collaboration combines PTC's expertise in developing small molecule splicing therapies with Novartis's expertise in global development and commercialization of neuroscience therapies. We are excited to collaborate with Novartis to accelerate the potential of PTC518 for the hundreds of thousands of HD patients worldwide in need of a therapy designed to be well-tolerated and an effective disease-modifying therapy. PTC will use the proceeds of this transaction to expand our splicing platform as well as to support commercial and development portfolio activities," he explained

Terms of the accord