Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Novartis announced Monday it will buy US gene therapy company AveXis for $8.7 billion (7.1 billion euros). It said the all-cash deal was approved unanimously by the boards of both firms. The Illinois-based AveXis is involved in clinical studies for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare neurodegenerative disease caused by a defect in a single gene.
"The proposed acquisition of AveXis offers an extraordinary opportunity to transform the care of SMA," Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan was quoted as saying in a company statement. "The acquisition would also accelerate our strategy to pursue high-efficacy, first-in-class therapies and broaden our leadership in neuroscience."
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Novartis said it will sell its stake in its consumer healthcare joint venture to Britain's GlaxoSmithKline for $13 billion.
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