With South Korea’s Alteogen, Novartis has secured access to the biotech’s exclusive subcutaneous drug delivery platform, ALT-B4, through an option and licensing agreement worth up to $3.2 billion. The massive Swiss pharmaceutical company has taken a number of steps to get the sole right to create subcutaneous versions of its medications. The entire potential value of the acquisition depends on Novartis exercising all of its options and meeting performance-based milestones, even though Novartis did not immediately disclose which particular pipeline assets will use the technology.
Deal Structure and Financial Terms
Alteogen did not include an upfront payment amount in its public disclosures. For the company’s platform licenses, these upfront costs often make up a very tiny percentage of the total contract structure. For instance, earlier this year, Biogen and GSK inked contracts with Alteogen that included $20 million in upfront payments and milestones of up to $549 million and $265 million.
A human hyaluronidase enzyme is used by Alteogen’s ALT-B4 technology to momentarily degrade hyaluronan in the extracellular matrix beneath the skin. This technique makes it possible to provide intravenous biologics via quick subcutaneous injections instead of long IV infusions, which is more convenient for patients and lessens the burden on hospitals.
Alteogen’s Growing Position in the Subcutaneous Market
With this most recent deal, Alteogen and Halozyme Therapeutics continue to be major worldwide rivals in the subcutaneous delivery market. After forming a historic alliance with Merck & Co. to create a subcutaneous version of its popular cancer treatment, Keytruda, Alteogen’s momentum picked up speed in 2020. The business has continuously expanded its clientele to include prominent pharmaceutical partners since that first partnership.
The collaboration with Novartis completes Alteogen’s hectic round of negotiations. The business signed a single-product agreement with Tesaro, GSK’s cancer division, in January. A two-asset deal with Biogen and a $365 million deal with an unidentified pharmaceutical partner were signed in March after this. These partnerships expand on a different alliance that Alteogen and AstraZeneca formed in 2025.
Novartis’s Strategic Shift Toward Subcutaneous Delivery
The Alteogen collaboration is in line with Novartis’s ongoing strategic plan to move important medicinal assets from intravenous to subcutaneous delivery. Through a 2024 agreement with Lindy Biosciences, in which Novartis paid $20 million up front to utilize Lindy’s microglassification suspension technology across several biologic targets, the company previously improved its expertise in this area. Novartis increases its clinical options for improving patient treatment, upgrading its therapeutic portfolio, and optimizing medication delivery by incorporating Alteogen’s enzyme-based technology.
Novartis has entered an agreement with South Korean biopharmaceutical company Alteogen that could be worth up to $3.223 billion, expanding Novartis’ efforts to develop more convenient subcutaneous formulations of medicines.
Under the agreement, Novartis receives multiple options to obtain exclusive rights to develop and commercialize subcutaneous formulations for several products using Alteogen’s ALT-B4 technology.
Novartis and ALT-B4 Technology
ALT-B4, also known as berahyaluronidase alfa, is a recombinant human hyaluronidase developed through Alteogen’s Hybrozyme platform. The technology is designed to help convert biologic medicines normally administered through intravenous infusion into subcutaneous formulations.
A New Direction in Biologic Drug Delivery
The agreement highlights the growing pharmaceutical industry interest in converting intravenous biologic treatments into subcutaneous formulations. Subcutaneous administration can potentially reduce infusion time and make certain therapies more convenient for patients and healthcare providers.
How ALT-B4 Works
ALT-B4 is a recombinant human hyaluronidase designed to temporarily break down hyaluronan in the extracellular matrix. This can help co-administered medicines spread through tissue and become absorbed more efficiently after subcutaneous injection.
Multiple Product Opportunities
Rather than covering just one medicine, the agreement provides multiple options for developing and commercializing subcutaneous formulations across several products. Each option can provide a pathway toward exclusive rights for a particular product.
This structure gives the company flexibility to evaluate different medicines and select candidates where subcutaneous delivery could offer the greatest clinical or commercial benefit.
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