London, July 06, 2026. Myricx Bio, a UK-based biotechnology company developing a new class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), announced today that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Novartis. The deal is valued at up to $1.5 billion, including $1.1 billion payable in cash at closing, with the remainder tied to future milestone payments.
The agreement pairs Novartis’s oncology development capabilities with Myricx Bio’s ADC pipeline and its proprietary N-myristoyltransferase inhibitor (NMTi) payload technology, a platform designed to work across a range of solid tumor types.
Founded in 2019, Myricx Bio built its work around its founding scientists’ research into the biology and chemistry of N-myristoyltransferase, an enzyme involved in cancer cell survival.
The company applied that research toward developing ADC payloads intended to work differently than widely used payload classes, such as topoisomerase-1 inhibitors and tubulin inhibitors, which can lose effectiveness over repeated treatment or come with significant tolerability challenges. Myricx Bio’s pre-clinical pipeline includes NMTi-based ADC candidates aimed at the B7-H3 and HER2 targets.
Company leadership described the acquisition as validation of years of scientific work on the NMTi-ADC platform, noting that the partnership with Novartis is intended to help bring a differentiated approach to ADC treatment to patients who may not respond well to currently available options.
Novartis leadership pointed to the continued need for new ADC payload mechanisms that can address treatment resistance and expand the range of tumors ADCs can effectively treat, framing the acquisition as consistent with Novartis’s broader strategy of investing in and scaling promising treatment platforms.
Myricx Bio originated as a spinout from Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute, co-founded by Professor Ed Tate, Ph.D., Roberto Solari, Ph.D., and Andrew Bell, Ph.D., with early support from Cancer Research UK and seed funding from Brandon Capital and Sofinnova Partners.
Under the direction of current Chief Technology Officer Robin Carr, Ph.D., the company completed a £90 million (approximately $114 million) Series A financing round in mid-2024, led by Novo Holdings and Abingworth and joined by British Business Bank, Cancer Research Horizons, Eli Lilly, and existing investors.
That funding supported an expansion of the company’s team and operations as it advanced its pipeline toward this transaction. Mohit Rawat joined Myricx Bio as Chief Executive Officer in 2025 and led the company through its pre-clinical development phase leading up to the acquisition agreement.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Goodwin served as legal advisor to Myricx Bio on the transaction.
About N-myristoyltransferase Inhibition and ADCs
N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) is an enzyme responsible for attaching a specific lipid group to multiple proteins that cancer cells rely on for survival.
Myricx Bio built its ADC pipeline around inhibiting this enzyme, with preclinical data showing strong efficacy and tolerability across several solid tumor types and tumor-associated antigens.
Currently available ADCs face two persistent challenges: reduced effectiveness upon retreatment with the same payload class, and dose-limiting toxicity that can require treatment interruptions or dose reductions in a majority of patients.
Because NMT inhibition works through a mechanism unrelated to existing ADC payloads, Myricx Bio’s platform is intended to offer a different tolerability profile and potential effectiveness in tumors that no longer respond to standard ADC treatment.
About Myricx Bio
Myricx Bio is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing cancer therapeutics, with a particular emphasis on a new category of ADC payloads based on inhibiting N-myristoyltransferase.
The company was spun out of Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute and is headquartered in London, with additional teams in the United States.
Its investors include Abingworth, Brandon Capital Partners, British Business Bank, Cancer Research Horizons, Eli Lilly, Novo Holdings, and Sofinnova Partners.
