Novartis is expanding its radiopharmaceuticals capabilities with an agreement to acquire Mariana Oncology, a startup with a drug pipeline and technologies that diversify the pharmaceutical giant’s areas of activity in this fast-growing area of cancer drug discovery.
Under terms of the deal announced Thursday, Novartis will pay $1 billion up front. Milestone payments could bring an additional $750 million to Mariana shareholders.
Novartis is already a leader in radiopharmaceuticals with two commercialized therapies, Lutathera for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors and Pluvicto for prostate cancer. Both products use the radioisotope lutetium, a beta particle. Beta particles are smaller and can therefore penetrate tissue easily. However, they are less effective than alpha particles.
Watertown, Massachusetts-based Mariana’s research involves both alpha and beta particles. When Mariana emerged from stealth in 2021, co-founder and CEO Simon Read told MedCity News that working with both types of particles allowed the company to choose the one best suited to a particular type of cancer. Alpha particles could be used for smaller tumors while beta particles could be used for larger tumors.
Mariana says the company is developing its peptide-based radioligand therapies to maximize tumor penetration while minimizing toxicity. The lead program MC-339 is based on the alpha particle actinium and is being developed to treat small cell lung cancer. Mariana has not disclosed the destination of this radiopharmaceutical.
Novartis’ two commercialized radiopharmaceuticals come from acquisitions: Lutathera came in 2017, followed by Pluvicto in 2018. The Swiss pharmaceutical giant’s purchase of Mariana continues a recent series of radiopharmaceutical deals by other big pharma. Last year, Eli Lilly entered the radiopharmaceuticals space with its $1.4 billion acquisition of Point Biopharma. Bristol Myers Squibb soon followed with its $4.1 billion acquisition of RayzeBio. In March, AstraZeneca agreed to pay $2 billion to buy partner Fusion Pharmaceuticals.
Founded by venture capital firms Atlas Ventures, Access Biotechnology and RA Capital Management, Mariana launched in 2021 backed by $75 million in Series A funding. At the time it was known as Curie Therapeutics. When Mariana closed its $175 million Series B financing last September, the company said it was preparing to advance MC-339 into clinical development in 2024. Aside from MC-339, Mariana has not disclosed details of other programs in its pipeline.
“This acquisition of Mariana Oncology brings Novartis phenomenal talent and new capabilities in radioligand therapy research that complement our extensive internal research and drug discovery efforts in addition to our translational and clinical development capabilities,” said Shiva Malek, global head of oncology for biomedical research at Novartis said a prepared statement.
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