{"id":81379,"date":"2026-06-11T09:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/81379\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T09:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T09:37:25","slug":"novartis-pays-2b-for-breast-cancer-program-as-rivals-circle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/81379\/","title":{"rendered":"Novartis pays $2B for breast cancer program as rivals circle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novartis has\u00a0struck<\/a> a front-loaded deal to buy Synnovation Therapeutics\u2019 pan-mutant\u2011selective PI3K\u03b1 inhibitor for $2 billion, securing an asset that could defend its breast cancer franchise from challengers including Eli Lilly.<\/p>\n

The Swiss drugmaker already sells a PI3K\u03b1 inhibitor, Piqray, that competes with Roche\u2019s Itovebi for the breast cancer market. Both drugs hit the mutant and wild-type forms of PI3K\u03b1. Because inhibition of wild-type PI3K\u03b1 is linked to severe high blood sugar, researchers have identified selectivity for mutant forms of the protein as a way to improve on the safety and tolerability profiles of Piqray and Itovebi.<\/p>\n

A label expansion and clinical data for Itovebi have handed Roche an advantage in the commercial battle. And, with other new challenges now in phase 3, Novartis has bet big to reestablish itself at the leading edge of a field it created.<\/p>\n

Novartis is paying Synnovation $2 billion upfront for Pikavation Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of the biotech with a portfolio of pan-mutant-selective PI3K\u03b1 inhibitor programs including SNV4818. The deal also includes up to $1 billion in milestones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Having\u00a0emerged<\/a> with $102 million in 2024, Synnovation\u00a0started<\/a> a phase 1\/2 trial in patients with breast cancer and other solid tumors about one year ago. The study is\u00a0testing<\/a> SNV4818 as a monotherapy and in combination with AstraZeneca\u2019s Faslodex and Pfizer\u2019s Ibrance. Synnovation designed the trial to show whether SNV4818 is safe, well tolerated and effective while generating data to inform dose selection.<\/p>\n

Novartis, which expects to close the deal by mid-2026, said the asset \u201cfits naturally alongside CDK inhibitors as well as endocrine (hormonal) therapies as part of a potential combination regimen.\u201d A phase 1b trial\u00a0stopped<\/a> testing Piqray with Novartis\u2019 CDK4\/6 inhibitor Kisqali and Faslodex over toxicity. At least one dose reduction was needed in 10 of the 18 patients who received the triple combination.<\/p>\n

Mutant\u2011selective PI3K\u03b1 inhibitors have shown better safety and tolerability to date, leading Lilly to\u00a0start<\/a> a phase 3 trial of tersolisib with a CDK4\/6 inhibitor and endocrine therapy in first-line breast cancer. Risen Pharma Tech is\u00a0running<\/a> a phase 3 trial of its PI3K\u03b1 inhibitor, which is partnered with Junshi Biosciences, in combination with a CDK4\/6 inhibitor and Faslodex. Relay Therapeutics\u00a0picked<\/a> the second-line setting, where Piqray is approved, for the first phase 3 trial of its PI3K\u03b1 inhibitor.<\/p>\n

SNV4818 is lagging behind other mutant\u2011selective PI3K\u03b1 inhibitors in the race to market. But evidence that the molecule provides broad-spectrum PI3K\u03b1 mutation coverage fueled Synnovation\u2019s belief it has a best-in-class candidate.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Novartis has\u00a0struck a front-loaded deal to buy Synnovation Therapeutics\u2019 pan-mutant\u2011selective PI3K\u03b1 inhibitor for $2 billion, securing an asset…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[127],"tags":[3264,1115,207,3772,9275,206],"class_list":["post-81379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-novartis","tag-acquisition","tag-biotech","tag-breast-cancer","tag-deals","tag-fierce-biotech-homepage","tag-novartis"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116730806001902833","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}