Abelacimab: The Innovative Drug Driving Novartis's $3.1B Acquisition of Anthos Therapeutics
Thanos Tsagkadouras
Life Sciences business analyst that loves providing insights that give you an edge | Collating and analysing data on the latest all-things-bio trends | Incubating Galino Labs
In a move aligned with its strategic vision, Novartis acquires a company whose lead drug could become a first-in-class treatment.
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Novartis after achieving great Q4 and FY 2024 financial results, would definitely not stay idle and do nothing with the M&A powder that was left aside for 2025 and beyond.
The company has set a strategy since 2022, and that entailed going for strategic targeted acquisitions that will enhance Novartis’s position in cardiovascular treatments.
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Today, Novartis announced its agreement to acquire Anthos Therapeutics.
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Anthos, based on their lead drug, I can say that is a pretty smart biopharmaceutical company specializing in cardiovascular therapies.
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Why Anthos is smart?
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Because the way they approached developing their lead drug follows my notion of understanding, deconstructing, reconstructing and conceptually visualizing, (brain)mapping out, turn upside-down, top to bottom, the biological or metabolic pathway(s) that the drug will act as a therapeutic intervention.
Novartis knows this, embraces the approach and sees how it can lead to higher chances of successful drug development.
An upfront payment of $925m with potential additional payments to be made in the future (as always, if milestones will be met) can bring the total deal value up to $3.1b.
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Not bad, right?
(Good for you Anthos!)
Anthos’s lead drug candidate is abelacimab, and the company itself was co-founded by Blackstone Life Sciences and Novartis itself, back in 2019.
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To further boost my claim, as to why Novartis (for now, with the data given publicly) made the right decision, this acquisition not only aligns with the overall long-standing strategy of Novartis’s drug pipeline expansion, but also it does that by focusing in therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical needs.
Remember that in 2019, Novartis acquired The Medicines Company for $9.7b, gaining access to inclisiran, a cholesterol-lowering therapy that complements its cardiovascular portfolio.
Similarly, remember the 2023 acquisition of Chinook Therapeutics for $3.2b which expanded Novartis's renal pipeline.
The reacquisition of Anthos Therapeutics and its lead asset, abelacimab, is consistent with this approach and it follows the same M&A strategic pattern that the big pharma showed historically.
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Now, some details about Abelacimab.
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Abelacimab is a monoclonal antibody targeting the Factor XI inhibition pathway, a protein that is part of the coagulation cascade.
The primary therapeutic goal of abelacimab is to prevent thromboembolic events, such as stroke and systemic embolism.
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The patients with conditions like atrial fibrillation will, as data shows from clinical trials, receive the most benefit out of abelacimab’s action.
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As abelacimab targets Factor XI, it binds with high affinity to the catalytic domain of both Factor XI and its activated form, Factor XIa.
By doing so, locks both Factor XI and Factor XIa in their inactive states.
Preventing, by this dual action, the activation of Factor XI by thrombin, consequently there is inhibition of the activity of any FXIa present.
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What is the result of its intervention, then?
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A reduction of thrombin generation and clot formation, effectively suppressing the intrinsic pathway of blood coagulation.
Traditional anticoagulants in the market do not make the cut (e.g warfarin or rivaroxaban).
They can reduce clot formation, but at the same time they are associated with high risk of bleeding.
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Now, Novartis expects (if approved) that abelacimab will provide anticoagulation, though with a reduced bleeding risk, by employing its highly selective affinity targeting smartly (as I said above) the intrinsic pathway of coagulation.
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Abelacimab is currently in Ph3 development!
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Anthos’s clever drug development approach gives Novartis a leverage to offer a first-in-class treatment option in a significant market.
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And Novartis is willing to pay up to $3.1b for this.
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It’s a bet worthwhile, and clinical trials will be the ultimate judge, knowing how Ph3 studies can end being a disaster.
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$925m, for now, it is as good as it can get for Anthos – but I trust (my gut and) Novartis leadership and due diligence teams, having in mind that Anthos itself was ‘incubated’ partly by the big pharma itself.
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Anthos was created to serve a purpose, and the results speak clearly for themselves.
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