Novartis Deal Puts Drug Delivery at the Center of Pharma

$12bn Avidity acquisition highlights delivery platforms as a strategic focus for drugmakers developing RNA therapies

28 Oct 2025

In late October Novartis agreed to spend $12bn to buy Avidity Biosciences, a small American firm specialising in RNA delivery. The price raised eyebrows. But the logic was clear. In modern drugmaking, delivery is no longer a secondary concern. It is fast becoming the main battlefield.

For decades pharmaceutical innovation focused on discovering potent molecules. Many still fail, not because they do not work, but because they cannot reach the right tissues in sufficient amounts. As therapies grow more complex, that weakness has become harder to ignore. Delivery, once a technical footnote, is now a strategic asset.

RNA medicines show the problem most starkly. They promise to tackle disease at its genetic roots and have already proved their worth in vaccines and rare disorders. Yet getting these fragile molecules to the right cells, without triggering side-effects elsewhere, remains difficult. Much of the value in the field lies in solving that puzzle.

Avidity has built its business on doing just that. Its technology is designed to guide RNA therapies more precisely to affected tissues, particularly muscle. Several of its drug candidates target rare neuromuscular diseases, areas where small gains in delivery can translate into large gains in safety and effect.

For Novartis the deal fits a broader shift. The Swiss firm has been steering towards treatments that act on clear biological mechanisms rather than blunt symptoms. Owning a delivery platform gives it more control over how such drugs are designed, tested and scaled. It also reduces reliance on partners whose incentives may differ.

Analysts at trade publications such as Fierce Biotech and MedCity News see this as part of a wider trend. Big drugmakers are increasingly keen to own delivery technologies outright. Control can speed development, simplify manufacturing and help defend products against rivals once they reach the market.

The consequences will ripple outward. European formulation experts, contract manufacturers and regulators will all face new demands as RNA drugs move closer to routine use. Regulators, in particular, will need to ensure that ever more intricate delivery systems meet standards for safety and consistency.

There are risks. Integrating a specialist biotech is never easy, and delivery science is evolving quickly. Today’s solution may not last. Still, the direction of travel is unmistakable. As the science of medicine advances, how drugs reach the body may matter as much as what they are designed to do. Companies that master delivery early will help decide who benefits.