Novartis acquires Gyroscope for $1.5 billion

Novartis has agreed to purchase gene therapies company Gyroscope in a deal worth up to $1.5 billion.

Founded in 2016, Gyroscope is currently conducting Phase II clinical trials for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), having generated positive clinical data in its Phase I/II FOCUS trial.

Novartis’ purchase of Gyroscope means it will gain access to Gyroscope’s expertise in ocular gene therapies.

The agreement will see Novartis provide an upfront payment of $800 million to Gyroscope, with an additional $700 million being made available if certain clinical development, regulatory approvals and reimbursement milestones are met.

Wouter Joustra Forbion general partner commented: "Forbion greatly welcomes this acquisition by Novartis, an international leader in ophthalmology and gene therapy. This comes shortly after our leading of Gyroscope’s $148 million Series C financing via our Forbion Growth Fund and joined by Forbion’s Fund V in the early spring of this year. In our view, this transaction strongly validates the maturing of the European ecosystem, which is the foundational thesis of our Growth Fund. It also marks Forbion’s continued commitment to gene therapy and ophthalmology. Since investing in Gyroscope, as a board member, we have worked very closely with management to bring GT005, Gyroscope’s ground-breaking investigational gene therapy for geographic atrophy due to dry AMD to patients. We believe Novartis to be an ideal partner to further develop this."