Novartis AG entered into a licensing agreement with privately held SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals that values the partnership at nearly $1.7 billion. The deal grants Novartis rights to develop and commercialize a lead anti‑amyloid antibody candidate, SNP234, and to leverage SciNeuro’s proprietary blood‑brain‑barrier shuttle technology to enhance delivery of therapeutic antibodies to the brain.
The transaction consists of an upfront payment of $165 million to SciNeuro, with up to $1.5 billion in development, regulatory, and commercial milestones and tiered royalties on future sales. The milestone structure is designed to reward progress through pre‑clinical, IND, Phase 2, and Phase 3 milestones, while the royalty schedule scales with sales volume, aligning incentives for both parties.
SNP234 targets aggregated beta‑amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, and is the first candidate in SciNeuro’s pipeline to reach the pre‑clinical stage. The partnership also gives Novartis access to the BBB shuttle platform, a modular technology that can be coupled to various therapeutic modalities to improve brain penetration, a critical hurdle in neurodegenerative drug development.
Novartis’s neuroscience strategy has been reinforced by recent deals, including a collaboration with Sironax to acquire a brain‑delivery module platform. The new agreement expands the company’s focus beyond oncology and immunology, positioning it to compete with established Alzheimer’s players such as Eisai/Biogen, Eli Lilly, and Roche, while adding a differentiated delivery mechanism that could shorten the path to market approval.
The deal comes at a time when the Alzheimer’s therapeutic market is projected to grow to $13–$15 billion by 2030, driven by an aging population and unmet clinical needs. By securing a candidate with a novel delivery system, Novartis aims to capture a share of this expanding market and accelerate the development of disease‑modifying therapies.
Robert Baloh, Novartis’s Global Head of Neuroscience, said the partnership “addresses the pressing need for new, differentiated therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease and leverages SciNeuro’s innovative BBB shuttle platform to overcome a long‑standing delivery challenge.” Min Li, CEO of SciNeuro, added that the collaboration “provides access to Novartis’s global development and commercialization capabilities, accelerating the path to patients.”
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