Novartis has moved aggressively to expand its cardiovascular portfolio with an agreed bid for The Medicines Company, valued at $9.7 billion. The US company’s lead product, inclisiran, is a small interfering RNA drug for the treatment of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and familial hypercholesterolemia. The Medicines Company expects to make regulatory submissions in the US before the end of 2019 and in Europe in the first quarter of 2020.
