Today’s Research Reports on Stocks to Watch: AveXis and Novartis

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / April 10, 2018 / Shares of biotech stocks AveXis and Novartis were climbing higher on Monday as the two struck a big deal that is expected to be completed mid this year. Novartis will be purchasing AveXis for nearly $9 billion. While Novartis shares closed with a modest gain of a little over 1%, shares of AveXis soared to close over 80% and even hit a new high.

RDI Initiates Coverage on:

AveXis, Inc.
https://www.rdinvesting.com/report/?ticker=AVXS

Novartis AG
https://www.rdinvesting.com/report/?ticker=NVS

AveXis, Inc. shares were skyrocketing on Monday to close with a gain of 81.57%. The stock also hit a new high of $211.75 during intra-day trading. The big move came after Wall Street learned that Novartis entered into an agreement to buy the company in an all-cash transaction for $8.7 billion. AVSX has a lead product candidate called AVXS-101 that could potentially become the first-ever one-time gene replacement therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The candidate has already received Breakthrough therapy designation in the US, has PRIME designation in the EU and Sakigake in Japan. It is expected to have US patient availability next year. Company CEO Sean Nolan, remarked, “With worldwide reach and extensive resources, Novartis should expedite our shared vision of bringing gene therapy to these patient communities across the globe as quickly and safely as possible.”

Access RDI’s AveXis, Inc. Research Report at:
https://www.rdinvesting.com/report/?ticker=AVXS

Novartis AG shares closed up 1.08% yesterday on about 2.5 million shares traded. Novartis was one of the most talked about stocks yesterday after the company announced that it will be acquiring AveXis Inc., a gene therapy company, for $8.7 billion. The company will pay $218 a share for AveXis in an all-cash transaction, representing an 88% premium to the stock’s closing price this past Friday. This is the first big purchase for CEO Vasant Narasimhan. The two companies are expecting the deal to close mid this year and it has been approved by both companies’ Board of Directors. According to Novartis, the purchase will help strengthen the company’s position in the gene therapy arena. CEO Narasimhan stated, “The proposed acquisition of AveXis offers an extraordinary opportunity to transform the care of SMA. We believe AVXS-101 could create a lifetime of possibilities for the children and families impacted by this devastating condition. The acquisition would also accelerate our strategy to pursue high-efficacy, first-in-class therapies and broaden our leadership in neuroscience. We would gain with the team at AveXis another gene therapy platform, in addition to our CAR-T platform for cancer, to advance a growing pipeline of gene therapies across therapeutic areas. We look forward on the closing of the deal to a smooth transition for AveXis employees and welcoming them to Novartis.”

Access RDI’s Novartis AG Research Report at:
https://www.rdinvesting.com/report/?ticker=NVS

Our Actionable Research on AveXis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVXS) and Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) can be downloaded free of charge at Research Driven Investing.

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