Novartis to Buy Anthos Therapeutics for Up to $3.1 Billion (3)

Novartis AG agreed to buy US biotech Anthos Therapeutics for as much as $3.1 billion to gain a preventative stroke medicine that could be the first of its kind.

The Swiss drugmaker will pay $925 million upfront and as much as $2.15 billion more if the experimental drug meets certain regulatory and sales milestones, it said Tuesday. Blackstone Inc.’s life sciences arm started Anthos with Novartis, whose labs devised the medicine it’s now getting back.

Novartis AG signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Novartis is looking to bolster its cardiology portfolio, with its top-selling heart medicine Entresto confronting generic competition in the US this year. ...