Tourmaline steers CV disease asset into $1.4B Novartis sale

In less than three and a half years, Tourmaline took an immunology asset that had stalled in Pfizer’s pipeline, repositioned it as a long-acting treatment for cardiovascular disease, and engineered a $1.4 billion sale to Novartis as that pharma continues to seek high-value medicines.

Novartis AG (SIX:NOVN; NYSE:NVS) agreed to pay $48 per share to acquire Tourmaline Bio Inc. (NASDAQ:TRML), adding anti-IL-6 antibody pacibekitug to its pipeline. The deal comes about four months after Tourmaline reported top-line results from its Phase II TRANQUILITY study of the molecule, part of its planned development in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD)...