Novartis Strikes Multiple Deals

Novartis is acquiring U.S. and Canadian rights to Vanda Pharmaceuticals' Fanapt, a small-molecule drug approved by FDA in May for the treatment of schizophrenia. Novartis, which plans to launch Fanapt early next year, is paying Vanda $200 million plus royalties and potential milestone payments. Separately, the Swiss firm has gained exclusive worldwide rights to market Paratek Pharmaceuticals' PTK 0796, a once-daily antibiotic now in Phase III clinical trials. Paratek will get an up-front payment and other potential payments of up to $485 million. And the Novartis Option Fund has struck a deal with Heptares Therapeutics under which Heptares will use its StaR technology to generate novel drug leads against an unspecified G-protein-coupled receptor target. Heptares could get up to $200 million.