Novartis said on Monday it was buying US-based Selexys Pharmaceuticals in a deal worth up to $665 million, as the Swiss drugmaker expands its pipeline of medicines to combat blood diseases.
Novartis exercised its right to acquire Selexys after a phase II trial evaluating the Oklahoma City-based company’s investigational medicine SelG1, aimed at reducing vaso-occlusive pain crises in patients with sickle cell disease. Such crises occur in adolescent and adult patients where sickled red blood cells obstruct circulation in blood vessels.