ARTICLE | Deals
Synnovation shareholders reap windfall from $2B sale of PI3Kα program to Novartis
Deal for mutation-selective molecule comes more than a year after Lilly’s purchase of Scorpion for breast cancer asset in same class
March 20, 2026 8:40 PM UTC
Novartis’ $2 billion purchase of a Phase I/II oncology asset from Synnovation will generate a return for the VC-backed company’s shareholders as the start-up’s team of drug hunters continues to advance its clinical and preclinical pipeline.
Upon closing, the deal will give Novartis AG (SIX:NOVN; NYSE:NVS) pan-mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor SYN4818, which entered the clinic in February 2025 to treat breast cancer and other solid tumors...