Novartis buys Myricx Bio for up to $1.5 billion in cancer push

Novartis agreed to buy London-based Myricx Bio for up to $1.5 billion, paying $1.1 billion upfront and as much as $400 million more in milestone payments. The deal gives the Swiss drugmaker a new antibody-drug conjugate platform built around N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor payloads.

The acquisition was announced on July 6, 2026, and is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. The deal would strengthen Novartis's oncology pipeline with two lead ADC assets and a broader payload platform that could be applied across multiple solid tumor settings.

Antibody-drug conjugates aim to deliver cancer-killing agents more selectively than older systemic therapies. Myricx’s approach uses NMTi payloads designed to address resistance to current payload classes, including TOPO-1 inhibitors. Myricx estimates that more than 90% of the clinical ADC pipeline is built on just three mechanisms of action: tubulin binders, topoisomerase inhibitors and DNA binders.

Myricx’s lead assets target B7-H3 and HER2, two clinically validated tumor-associated antigens with potential across multiple solid tumors. Preclinical work showed complete and durable tumor regressions in several cancer models, and the company disclosed encouraging initial non-human primate tolerability data in 2023.

Myricx was co-founded in 2019 by Ed Tate and launched with £4.5 million in seed funding from Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital Partners. It raised a £90 million Series A in July 2024, co-led by Novo Holdings and Abingworth, with backing from British Patient Capital, Cancer Research Horizons and Eli Lilly and Company to advance NMTi-ADC therapeutics into clinical development.

The acquisition is the highest-value exit of any Imperial spinout to date. Myricx originated from Imperial’s Department of Chemistry and had research ties to the Francis Crick Institute. Sofinnova Partners co-led the seed round in 2019 and supported the company from founding through exit.