Novartis International AG: Novartis provides drug candidate compounds to TB Alliance

Novartis International AG / Novartis provides drug candidate compounds to TB Alliance . Processed and transmitted by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

• Exclusive worldwide license from Novartis includes a novel class of drugs that is active against drug sensitive and multi-resistant strains of tuberculosis

Basel, August 20, 2014 - Novartis has signed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance) for compounds to fight tuberculosis (TB) that have been discovered at the Novartis Institutes for Tropical Diseases (NITD). 

According to the World Health Organization, there are more than 8.6 million cases of tuberculosis each year, with more than 1.3 million deaths reported annually. TB is a global disease, but has its deadliest impact in resource-poor countries.[1] Current therapies for TB require 6-30 month dosing regimes and there are increasingly drug resistant strains of TB emerging.[2]

"TB is one of the scourges of the developing world and new medicines are desperately needed to combat its continued spread," said Mark C. Fishman, President of Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research. "TB Alliance is well placed to take our discoveries and compounds through development for the benefit of patients with TB."

"Our long-standing partnership with Novartis gives us confidence in the scientific underpinnings of the TB portfolio," says Mel Spigelman, MD, President and CEO of TB Alliance. "We look forward to advancing the most promising compounds into the clinic to meet the urgent need for new TB treatments."

Under the terms of agreement, NITD will fully transfer its TB research and development program to TB Alliance, which will take financial and operational responsibility for continued research, development, approval and distribution of compounds in the portfolio. Included is a novel class of drugs called indolcarboxamides that are active against drug sensitive and multi-resistant strains of TB. One of these preclinical compounds NITD304, blocks MmpL3, a protein essential for the TB bacterium's survival.  NITD304 was described last year in a paper published in Science Translational Medicine.[3]

Novartis has collaborated in the past with TB Alliance and believes it has the best combination of expertise, capacity, and strategic interest to develop new agents and regimens for TB.

Novartis efforts in discovery of medicines specifically for the developing world continues, especially focused now on new therapies for treating parasitic diseases such as malaria, and human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) - also known as sleeping sickness, as well as viral disease such as dengue fever.

Disclaimer
This press release contains expressed or implied forward-looking statements, including statements that can be identified by terminology such as "look forward to," "will," "continues," or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Group regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such statements. These expectations could be affected by, among other things, risks and factors referred to in the Risk Factors section of Novartis AG's current Form 20-F on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Novartis is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update it in the future.

About Novartis
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2013, the Group achieved net sales of USD 57.9 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.9 billion (USD 9.6 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 136,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries around the world.
For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com (http://www.novartis.com).

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References
[1] Global Tuberculosis Report 2013, World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/gtbr13_executive_summary.pdf?ua=1 (http://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/gtbr13_executive_summary.pdf?ua=1)
[2] CDC, Treatment of Tuberculosis, http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5211a1.htm (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5211a1.htm)
[3] Ujjini H. Manjunatha, Science Translational Medicine, Indolcarboxamide Is a Preclinical Candidate for Treating Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/5/214/214ra168.editor-summary) ,

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