Novartis returns to the discount aisle, buys Xoma's failed PhIII drug for $31M
Two years after a Phase III flop for its lead drug gevokizumab put Xoma $XOMA under a dark cloud, Novartis has stepped up to buy the drug and help relieve the financial strain at the biotech.
One look at this deal and you can see that Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez is dead serious when he says he won’t pay top dollar for biotech assets.
In a bottom feeding expedition, the pharma giant has agreed to pay $31 million for gevokizumab, which includes $5 million for an equity stake. Novartis is also settling a €12 million bill outstanding with Les Laboratoires Servier while restructuring its own loan to Xoma.
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