Novartis Acquires Arctos Medical, Expanding Optogenetic Gene Therapy Pipeline

Swiss company Novartis announced Sept. 21 that it had acquired Arctos Medical, developer of a potential optogenetic AAV gene therapy for inherited retinal disease. Financial details were not disclosed. The move comes a year after Novartis paid $150 million up front and a potential $130 million in milestone payments in September 2020 for Vedere Bio of Cambridge, Massachusetts.