Novartis is set to acquire Myricx Bio, paying $1.1bn upfront, with up to $400m in potential milestone payments. The acquisition would strengthen Novartis’ oncology pipeline and advance next-generation targeted drug conjugates with novel payload mechanisms.
Myricx is a privately-held, UK-based biotech company developing a new class of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), using N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payloads.
Myricx’s approach is designed to deliver a differentiated cancer-killing payload directly to tumour cells, with the potential to address limitations of commonly used ADC payload classes such as TOPO-1 inhibitors. Myricx is developing two lead assets directed towards the targets B7-H3 and HER2, with potential across multiple solid tumour settings.
Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis, said: “ADCs have become an important part of cancer treatment, but there remains a clear need for new payload mechanisms to overcome resistance and expand their impact for patients.
“Myricx Bio has developed a promising NMTi payload platform with a differentiated mechanism that could broaden the use of ADCs across multiple tumor settings. This proposed acquisition reflects our strategy to scale innovative platforms, as we have with radioligand therapies, to deliver more durable, transformative treatments for patients.”
NMT is an enzyme that helps important proteins function inside cells, which is essential for how cancer cells grow and survive. By inhibiting NMT, Myricx’s payload is designed to disrupt critical processes that cancer cells rely on. Preclinical data suggest this novel NMTi payload may have broad activity across solid tumours, including TOPO-1 resistant models, and may enable more effective use of ADCs in settings where existing payload classes have limitations.
More broadly, this agreement would give Novartis the opportunity to help establish NMTi, if clinically validated, as a new class of ADC payloads that could be applied across additional targets and platforms.
The transaction is expected to close in H2 2026.