Myricx Bio, a UK-headquartered biotech company focusing on the discovery and development of a novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), has reached an agreement to be acquired by Novartis for up to $1.5 billion including $1.1 billion cash upfront plus potential milestone payments.
The acquisition advances ADC innovation by bringing together the strengths of Novartis in oncology with Myricx Bio’s two lead ADC assets and next-generation first-in-class N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payload platform, having potential impact across multiple solid tumour settings.
Since its founding in 2019, Myricx Bio has translated its founders’ extensive research and world leading insights in NMT biology and chemistry into ADC payloads with a novel, orthogonal and differentiated mode of action to address limitations of commonly used ADC payload classes such as TOPO-1 and tubulin inhibitors. Myricx Bio has advanced a pre-clinical pipeline of proprietary NMTi-ADCs with lead assets directed towards established targets B7-H3 and HER2.
The transaction is expected to close in H2 2026, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
