Sourcing innovation, strategically

Looking for the latest trends in biotech? Phil Gotwals has answers. In his former role focused on searching for and evaluating external science and technology at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), he laughingly called himself a “personal shopper” for scientists looking for innovative ways to discover new medicines.

Now Head of Business Development and Licensing (BD&L) at NIBR, Gotwals is thinking more strategically. His eyes are still on the trends, but he’s also delving deeply into the science already in play at NIBR to guide thinking about which of those …

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Sourcing innovation, strategically

Looking for the latest trends in biotech? Phil Gotwals has answers. In his former role focused on searching for and evaluating external science and technology at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), he laughingly called himself a “personal shopper” for scientists looking for innovative ways to discover new medicines.

Now Head of Business Development and Licensing (BD&L) at NIBR, Gotwals is thinking more strategically. His eyes are still on the trends, but he’s also delving deeply into the science already in play at NIBR to guide thinking about which of those …

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Novartis ligelizumab (QGE031) more effective than Xolair® at inhibiting immunoglobulin E pathway responsible for chronic spontaneous urticaria

  • Data show ligelizumab binds to immunoglobulin E (IgE), a key driver of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), with significantly higher affinity than current standard of care Xolair (omalizumab)1
     
  • The study published in Nature Communications suggests ligelizumab has the potential to be more effective than Xolair in treating CSU
     
  • Earlier Phase IIb study results show more patients are completely symptom-free from CSU with ligelizumab than Xolair2
     
  • CSU is a distressing and …
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Novartis successfully completes acquisition of The Medicines Company, adding a potentially first-in-class, investigational cholesterol-lowering therapy inclisiran

  • Over 50 million secondary prevention patients worldwide with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) or familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) on current standard of care do not achieve LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) goal and remain at increased risk of cardiovascular events1
     
  • The Medicines Company submitted the New Drug Application (NDA) for inclisiran to the FDA in December 2019
     
  • Comprehensive Phase III inclisiran program showed potent and durable reduction of >50% in LDL-C on top of standard of care, with …
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Novartis completes tender offer for all outstanding shares of The Medicines Company

Basel, January 6, 2020 — Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) (“Novartis”) today announced the successful completion of the previously announced tender offer by its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, Medusa Merger Corporation (“Purchaser”), for all of the outstanding shares of common stock, par value USD 0.001 per share, of The Medicines Company (NASDAQ: MDCO) (the “Company”) at a price of USD 85.00 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest and subject to any tax withholding.

American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, the depositary for the …

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A Father’s Story of Parental Leave: Sharing those precious moments

At Novartis, we celebrate life and recognize moments that matter.  One of the most life-changing moments our associates experience is becoming a parent and welcoming new life into their lives.  In July 2019, we introduced equal paid parental leave of at least 14 weeks to all parents, regardless of gender. We believe that this will empower our people to make the right choices for the health and well-being of their families, by enjoying more flexibility and financial stability, at the times when it matters the most.

Michael Wieser shares this experience with us of becoming a father for …

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AVXS-101 Managed Access Program – letter to the SMA community

Dear SMA Community,

Since its U.S. approval, AveXis has had increasing demand from families outside of the U.S. for access to AVXS-101. While we are pursuing registration in close to three dozen countries, we have heard the many requests from the SMA community for a global Managed Access Program (MAP)* to make this innovative gene therapy available to patients in immediate need.

We are pleased to take this critical step in offering a global MAP to provide AVXS-101 free of charge to eligible patients with SMA who are under the age of two and are a citizen or legal resident of a …

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Novartis provides update on LUSTER Phase III studies in patients with uncontrolled GINA 4/5 asthma

  • Pooled analyses of LUSTER 1 and 2 did not support further development of Fevipiprant in asthma as a primary indication
     
  • Fevipiprant was well tolerated with adverse events balanced across treatment groups

Basel, Switzerland, December 16, 2019 – Novartis today announced topline results from its pivotal global Phase III LUSTER-11 and LUSTER-22 studies exploring the efficacy and safety of the investigational oral, once-daily, DP2 receptor antagonist fevipiprant (QAW039). The …

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Novartis receives positive CHMP opinion for Beovu® (brolucizumab) for the treatment of wet AMD

  • In two head-to-head clinical trials, patients on Beovu achieved vision gains that were non-inferior to aflibercept at year one1
     
  • In a pre-specified secondary endpoint, fewer patients had intra-retinal fluid and/or sub-retinal fluid at week 16 and year one with Beovu1
     
  • In a key pre-specified secondary endpoint, over half of Beovu 6mg patients (56% in HAWK and 51% in HARRIER) were maintained on three-month dosing intervals immediately after the loading phase through year one1
      …
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Novartis Kisqali® data show superior overall survival compared to fulvestrant and consistent efficacy across advanced breast cancer patient subgroups in MONALEESA-3

  • MONALEESA-3 paper published today in The New England Journal of Medicine shows statistically significant overall survival results for Kisqali plus fulvestrant, reducing the risk of death by almost 30%
     
  • Overall survival benefit for Kisqali plus fulvestrant was consistent regardless of line of therapy or response to prior endocrine treatment
     
  • Kisqali is the only CDK4/6 inhibitor to demonstrate consistently superior overall survival in two Phase III trials, proven with multiple combination partners and in two …
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