Drugmaker Novartis aims to dispose of a 13.5 billion Swiss franc ($13.8 billion) stake in its local rival Roche and has already hired banks to support the selling process, a Swiss paper reported on Sunday.
The world’s biggest prescription drugmaker started building up the stake – worth 33 percent of Roche’s voting shares – as a basis for a possible merger more than a decade ago, but the plan never materialized.
Novartis plans to sell the stake in a so-called order book process, having banks collect purchase offers within a predefined price range from selected investors, weekly Sonntagszeitung said, citing board and banking sources.
A Novartis spokesman declined to comment on the report.
By Kirsti Knolle
Source: Reuters
Novartis will acquire Mariana’s lead candidate MC-339, a radioligand therapy (RLT) designed to target small-cell lung cancer. Last year, Mariana had raised $175m in a Series B round from several funds and pharma giant Eli Lilly.
The company’s aspiration to expand the use of its obesity products to cardiovascular indications has been successful. In March, its blockbuster drug Wegovy was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases in obese or overweight adults.
Massachusetts-based Deciphera brings to the table an extensive kinase inhibitor pipeline, kinase drug discovery expertise, and a strong commercial and sales platform in the US and European markets that is meant to advance Ono’s capabilities and presence in the oncology space.
