Novartis to buy breast cancer drug candidate from Synnovation

FRANKFURT, March 20 (Reuters) - Novartis NOVN.S said on Friday it agreed to acquire breast cancer drug candidate SNV4818 from Synnovation Therapeutics for $2 billion upfront and up to $1 billion contingent on further development achievements.

The experimental drug belongs to the class of selective PI3Kα inhibitors, a new approach for the treatment of a type of breast cancer known as HR positive/HER2 negative and potentially other solid tumours.