Lutetium Dotatate LU-177

Novartis, one of the leading multinational pharmaceutical companies, has recently announced its intention to acquire Mariana Oncology, a nuclear medicine company. This strategic move is aimed at strengthening Novartis' position in the field of radiopharmaceuticals, as the company continues to expand its portfolio in this promising area of healthcare. With a prepayment of $1 billion and potential milestone payments of up to $750 million, Novartis is making a substantial investment to gain access to Mariana Oncology's preclinical research pipeline and clinical supply capabilities. Expanding into Radiopharmaceuticals: Novartis has been actively pursuing opportunities in the radiopharmaceutical sector in recent years. In 2017, the company acquired Advanced Accelerator Applications, obtaining the rights to the RDC drug Lutathera and establishing a solid foundation in nuclear medicine technology. The following year, Novartis made another significant acquisition, purchasing Endocyte for $2.1 billion, further expanding its radiopharmaceutical pipeline. These acquisitions have paid off for Novartis, as both Lutathera and Pluvicto, two flagship radiopharmaceutical products, have shown impressive sales growth. Mariana Oncology: A Strategic Acquisition: Mariana Oncology, initially known as Curie Therapeutics, was incubated by several investment companies in 2021. The company successfully raised $75 million in Series A funding and completed a $175 million Series B financing round in September 2023. Mariana Oncology specializes in the development of targeted radioligand therapy based on cyclic peptides, with its lead candidate drug, MC-339, being a peptide-based small molecule designed to carry a radioactive payload. This acquisition provides Novartis with access to Mariana Oncology's clinical supply capabilities, enabling the company to further strengthen its radiopharmaceutical offerings. The Potential of Radiopharmaceuticals: Radiopharmaceuticals hold great potential in the treatment of various diseases, particularly cancer. By combining radioactive isotopes with targeted molecules, these drugs can deliver precise doses of radiation to cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissues. Novartis aims to leverage the expertise and capabilities of Mariana Oncology to advance the development of MC-339 and other promising radiopharmaceutical candidates. The successful application of these drugs in clinical settings could revolutionize cancer treatment and improve patient outcomes. Novartis' acquisition of Mariana Oncology represents another significant step in the company's strategic expansion into the radiopharmaceutical sector. By investing in cutting-edge technologies and innovative therapies, Novartis aims to address the unmet medical needs of patients and reinforce its position as a leader in the field of nuclear medicine. With the growing importance of radiopharmaceuticals in the treatment of cancer and other diseases, Novartis is well-positioned to make a substantial impact in this rapidly evolving field.

Mariana Oncology arrived at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference this past January with momentum. The radiopharmaceutical drug developer had secured $175 million in fresh funding four months prior and, in the time since, seen two competitors in its field acquired via multibillion-dollar acquisitions.The result was a full calendar of meetings for Marianas executive team. The inbound interest was broad and almost frenetic, said company CEO Simon Read in an interview. The business development deals in the run-up to J.P. Morgan had really conditioned the marketplace.One of those conversations led to Marianas own deal, a $1 billion buyout by Novartis that the companies announced Thursday.According to Read, Mariana saw the chance to combine with Novartis, a radiopharmaceutical leader that sells two of the targeted radiation drugs, as a perfect marriage.If you want to maximize the value of [your pipeline], it helps to be able to add scale. You can carry on raising more and more money, but having a party that can add scale, knows how to commercialize these drugs, that's probably a better strategy, Read said.Novartis has a good claim at being expert. The company invested heavily in radiopharmaceuticals, acquiring its approved drugs Pluvicto and Lutathera through a pair of acquisitions several years ago and building out the manufacturing to support them since.Novartis success with Pluvicto in prostate cancer has motivated others, Mariana among them, to follow into the field. We began thinking in mid-2020 about the makeup of the company. We had been struck by the compelling efficacy that was coming out the clinic with Pluvicto, Read said.Eli Lillys $1.4 billion purchase of Point BioPharma last October, meanwhile, gave Lilly a potential competitor to Pluvicto, as well as an entry point into radiopharmaceuticals.Radiopharmaceuticals combine an isotope, like lutetium or actinium, with a targeting molecule meant to shepherd the cell-killing radiation directly to the tumor. Essentially, the drugs offer a more precise way to target cancers with less risk of harming healthy tissue, as beamed or implanted radiation can.But theyre tricky to manufacture and, because radioactive isotopes degrade over time, require a precisely choreographed supply chain to get doses to patients in just the right window.Even Novartis has run into challenges, temporarily pausing production in 2022 to resolve certain quality issues and then struggling to keep up with demand for Pluvicto.The company has added new factories and scaled up capacity in response. A new plant in Indianapolis came on line earlier this year, for example, increasing the number of doses Novartis can make annually to 250,000.It was a significant investment for the organization, said Jeevan Virk, therapeutic area strategy head for radiopharmaceuticals at Novartis, in a February interview. We now feel were in a space where were able to deliver on the promise of unconstrained supply.Spanning some 70,000 square feet, the facility currently has two manufacturing lines operating, but has space to quadruple that if needed, according to Sergio Cerdas, Novartis global head of radioligand therapies.Novartis has additional radiopharmaceutical facilities in New Jersey, Italy and Spain, and is planning to open sites in Japan and China.Mariana has its own manufacturing already set up, which it will use to supply its lead radiopharmaceutical candidate for small cell lung cancer when that enters clinical testing later this year.That distinguishes its deal with Novartis from other recent acquisitions of RayzeBio by Bristol Myers Squibb and of Fusion Pharmaceuticals by AstraZeneca, Read said.The narrative of those deals were about, lets secure supply chain, lets secure manufacturing as table stakes to get into this space, added Read. [Marianas deal] was slightly different in so much as this was about a fantastic pipeline and portfolio complementarity.Mariana hasnt yet disclosed the target of its small cell lung cancer treatment, but the candidate uses actinium, which a number of other companies, Novartis included, are exploring as an alternative radioisotope to lutetium.The biotechnology companys pipeline also contains other preclinical-stage programs in solid tumors like breast and prostate cancer.Importantly, Read said, Mariana can match the isotope to the tumor its targeting. We have the flexibility to put any payload we want on our molecules. '