SciNeuro, Novartis sign $1.7 billion licensing deal to develop Alzheimer's drugs

Jan 12 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis NOVN.S has signed a licensing deal worth nearly $1.7 billion with privately held SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals to develop potential antibody treatments for Alzheimer's disease, the biotech firm said on Monday.

Under the agreement, SciNeuro will receive $165 million upfront and could earn up to $1.5 billion tied to development, regulatory and sales milestones along with royalties on future sales.

The deal would give Novartis access to SciNeuro's proprietary technology designed to improve the delivery of the drug to the brain. SciNeuro said the approach could differentiate its antibodies from approved treatments that are also designed to clear sticky deposits of a protein called amyloid beta, a hallmark of Alzheimer's.

The search for new treatments for Alzheimer's is increasingly shifting to novel approaches that treat the memory-robbing disease as the product of multiple, complex biological pathways and researchers and drugmakers are pursuing new targets that could slow or halt its progression.

Roche ROG.S recently launched late-stage trials of its drug trontinemab, which links an amyloid antibody to a "brain shuttle" allowing it to cross the blood-brain barrier.

The uptake of the two currently approved Alzheimer's treatments, Biogen BIIB.O and partner Eisai's 4523.T Leqembi and Eli Lilly's LLY.N Kisunla, has been limited by concerns over cost, efficacy and side effects.

SciNeuro said it will work with Novartis on early-stage development, after which Novartis would take over clinical testing and, if approved, commercialize the drug globally.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026.