Novartis buys HySolv technology from BTG
Swiss drug major Novartis will UK specialty pharma firm BTG up to $10m (€7m) for its HySolv drug delivery technology.
As the name suggests HySolv uses a patent solvent system to improve the solubility of hydrophobic drugs. The technology was developed by recent BTG acquisition US group Protherics.
BTG CEO Louise Makin said that the deal is in line with the firm’s plan to realise value from its assets “while continuing to build value in our development pipeline and establishing our US sales and marketing operations.”
Although Novartis has not yet commented on its latest acquisition the nature of the HySolv technology suggests it will be applied to both traditional small molecule drug candidates as well as biologics, for which solubility is often an issue.
