Novartis Stock News

Swiss Novartis is entering a licensing agreement with a Chinese biotech worth as much as $7.8 billion. It comes after several pharma peers announced deals with China-based drug developers over the past two weeks.

Abogen said its lead drug has potential to transform the treatment landscape for patients with autoimmune diseases.

Chinese biotech company Abogen ​said on Friday it signed ‌a licensing deal worth about $7.8 billion with Swiss drug maker Novartis to ​advance RNA-based therapy.

European drugmakers called for ​beefed-up government spending on medicines, faster trials and IP protections as ‌they sounded warnings on Tuesday that the continent's pharmaceutical industry risks losing out to the United States and China.

Novartis has halted development of an experimental drug ​for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis after it failed to meet goals ‌in a mid-stage study, marking the latest disappointment for the Swiss drugmaker this year.

Novartis added another failure to its docket Wednesday, dropping an experimental treatment for the muscle-wasting disease.

Legend Biotech on Tuesday appointed longtime Novartis executive Ingrid Zhang as its CEO, effective immediately, banking on an ​industry veteran to steer its expansion beyond blockbuster ‌cancer therapy Carvykti.

Ingrid Zhang will take the helm of the cancer therapy company, filling a post vacant since its previous CEO abruptly resigned in July.