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Shanghai Argo announces multi-program RNAi licenses and strategic collaborations with Novartis valued at up to $4.165 billion with $185 million in upfront…
Shanghai Argo enters two exclusive license and collaboration agreements with Novartis for RNAi cardiovascular assets with combined potential value of…
Novartis opened 2024 with a pair of cardiovascular contracts with Chinese biotech Shanghai Argo Biopharmaceutical.
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In January 2024 Novartis entered two exclusive license and collaboration agreements with Shanghai Argo Biopharmaceutical for cardiovascular siRNA (RNAi) programs from Argo's RADS platform, paying $185M upfront against total potential consideration exceeding $4.16B in option and milestone payments plus tiered royalties. The alliance has since matured: in June 2025 BW-00163 (QCZ484), one of the assets covered by this agreement, advanced into a Phase 2 hypertension trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06857955), triggering a milestone payment to Argo. Novartis and Argo subsequently expanded their relationship with a third transaction in September 2025 ($160M upfront, up to ~$5.2B), underscoring the durability of the original 2024 deal thesis.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novartis AG / Shanghai Argo Biopharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (this deal) | 2024 | $4.2B | 70 |
| Novartis AG / Advanced Accelerator Applications S.A. | 2017 | $3.9B | 98 |
| Novartis AG / Endocyte, Inc. | 2018 | $2.1B | 96 |
| Novartis AG / Lek Pharmaceuticals d.d. | 2002 | $876M | 88 |
| Novartis AG / GlaxoSmithKline plc | 2014 | $16.0B | 81 |
| Novartis AG / PTC Therapeutics Inc. | 2024 | $2.9B | 80 |
| Novartis AG / Chinook Therapeutics Inc. | 2023 | $3.5B | 78 |
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More: 2024 deals · Novartis AG deals · Cardiovascular deals