Fat premium

25 Nov 2019 By Ed Cropley Follow @edwardcropley

The Swiss drugs giant is buying The Medicines Co. and its artery-clearing drug inclisiran for $9.7 bln, or a fat 41% premium. But the sector is crowded and Novartis must wait years for a decent return. Governments and insurers may also tire of paying to treat lifestyle diseases.

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Novartis said on Nov. 24 it had agreed to buy U.S. biotechnology firm The Medicines Company for $9.7 billion in cash.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company is paying $85 a share for The Medicines Company, whose top treatment is the cholesterol-lowering drug inclisiran.

Novartis said inclisiran, which has been shown in clinical trials to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood by up to 56%, would start to contribute to group sales in 2021.

Novartis shares were 0.3% higher at 90.03 Swiss francs at 0840 GMT on Nov. 25.

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