Novartis Pays $125 Mn to Acquire Sironax Brain Delivery Platform

Sironax’s platform uses brain delivery modules intended to help large molecules cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain.

Novartis has exercised its option to acquire Massachusetts-based biotech company Sironax’s brain delivery platform for $125 Mn, giving the Swiss pharmaceutical company control of technology designed to transport large molecules into the central nervous system.

Sironax will receive the payment when the transaction closes while retaining rights to use the platform for selected assets.

Novartis and Sironax entered into an option agreement in July 2025, allowing Novartis to evaluate the biotech’s technology before deciding whether to acquire it.

Fourteen months later, Novartis has exercised that option. When the original agreement was announced, Sironax said the arrangement could provide up to $175 Mn in upfront and near-term payments.

Sironax’s platform uses brain delivery modules intended to help large molecules cross the blood-brain barrier and reach the brain.

The technology could potentially be used with monoclonal antibodies, peptides, proteins, gene therapies and other biologics.

Sironax will continue applying the platform to selected programmes while using proceeds from the transaction to support its own drug pipeline.

“More importantly, we believe this transaction will help maximize the platform’s potential, enabling its application to a broader range of programs and ultimately benefiting more patients around the world,” Sironax CEO Shefali Agarwal, M.D. said.

The transaction adds to a series of Novartis investments in brain-delivery technologies. In August 2025, Novartis entered an option agreement with BioArctic involving its BrainTransporter technology, with the deal carrying potential additional payments of up to $772 Mn.

In January, Novartis also partnered with SciNeuro Pharmaceuticals on an Alzheimer’s antibody programme using blood-brain barrier shuttle technology, providing $165 Mn upfront and potential milestones of up to $1.5 Bn.

Sironax’s own pipeline includes three clinical-stage programmes: SIR2501, SIR4156 and SIR9900. SIR2501, an allosteric SARM1 inhibitor, is being developed for neuroaxonal damage and has received FDA Fast Track designation for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

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