Overview
- Novartis will pay $72 per share in cash, valuing Avidity at about $12 billion on a fully diluted basis and roughly $11 billion in enterprise value, with both boards approving the deal.
- Avidity will spin off its early-stage precision cardiology assets into a publicly traded SpinCo, distributing one SpinCo share per ten Avidity shares or a pro rata cash payment, with $270 million in funding and Kathleen Gallagher as CEO and Sarah Boyce as chair.
- Closing is targeted for the first half of 2026 and remains subject to Avidity shareholder consent, regulatory approvals and the completion or approved sale of SpinCo.
- Novartis gains Avidity’s AOC delivery platform and three late-stage programs for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy type 1 and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, with the first U.S. filing expected in Q1 2026 for a Duchenne subset.
- Shares reacted to the announcement, with Avidity up roughly 40%–45% and Novartis down about 1%, as CEO Vas Narasimhan called the pre-data deal an appropriate risk to advance the neuromuscular portfolio.