Swiss pharma giant Novartis buying U.S.-based Endocyte in $2.1B deal

Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Novartis, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies, said Thursday it will buy U.S. biopharmaceutical firm Endocyte in a $2.1 billion deal.

Switzerland-based Novartis said in a statement it would purchase all outstanding shares of Endocyte common stock for $24 per share. Endocyte shares closed at $15.56 on Wednesday.

Upon completion of the deal, Endocyte will become a subsidiary of Novartis. It said the deal could close by the first half of 2019, pending approval from regulators and Endocyte stockholders.

Endocyte shares soared after Thursday's announcement and Novartis raised its full-year sales outlook, pointing to growing revenue from its Cosentyx psoriasis arthritis drug and heart medicine Entresto.

"Today's announcement about the proposed acquisition of Endocyte builds on our growing capability in radiopharmaceuticals, which is expected to be an increasingly important treatment option for patients and a key growth driver for our business," Liz Barrett, chief executive of Novartis Oncology, said.

Endocyte President Mike Sherman said the company has been working on new advances since it won exclusive rights last year to commercialize PSMA-617 agents for prostate cancer treatment.

"The global reach and expertise of Novartis in developing and commercializing [certain] therapies will be critical in efforts for patients to benefit from these therapies as quickly as possible," Sherman added.

Novartis is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies in both sales and market capitalization.