Avidity Biosciences to be acquired by Novartis

Updated: December 4, 2025

From Belief to Breakthrough: Celebrating Avidity’s Potential Acquisition by Novartis

In 2018, CureDuchenne made a bold investment in a promising company with an idea that could change the future for people living with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

That company was Avidity Biosciences, and the science was Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs™) — a then-novel approach that aimed to overcome one of the biggest challenges in RNA therapeutics: how to effectively deliver treatment directly to muscle tissue.

Today, we are thrilled to congratulate Avidity on their extraordinary achievement: a proposed $12 billion acquisition by Novartis, announced October 26, 2025. This landmark deal would mark a new chapter not only for Avidity, but for the entire Duchenne community. It would bring the potential for life-changing therapies one step closer — and validates the power of venture philanthropy to accelerate science, open doors, and deliver impact that matters.

“When CureDuchenne invested in Avidity, we weren’t just betting on a company — we were believing in a future. A future where more individuals with Duchenne have viable therapies, and more parents have hope. We’re proud to have played a role in helping Avidity reach this incredible milestone, and we look forward to hopefully working with Novartis to continue driving progress for the Duchenne community.”
— Debra Miller, CEO and Co-Founder, CureDuchenne

A Future Built on Early Belief

At the time of our investment, Avidity was still in the preclinical phase, with a bold scientific concept and a small team working to bring it to life. CureDuchenne saw the potential in their AOC platform early — a platform that combines the precision of oligonucleotide therapeutics with the targeting capability of antibodies, enabling delivery to muscle, heart, and diaphragm. That early support helped Avidity accelerate development and build a pipeline now aimed at multiple muscle-wasting diseases, including Duchenne.

This is exactly what venture philanthropy is designed to do.

Unlike traditional grantmaking, CureDuchenne Ventures invests strategically in biotech innovation with a dual purpose: to drive therapeutic breakthroughs and to generate returns that are reinvested into more research, more care, and more support for families. To date, CureDuchenne has invested over $26 million in research, catalyzing more than $3 billion in follow-on funding — with Avidity now another visible success story.

A Shared Commitment to Patients

With the proposed acquisition of Avidity by Novartis the future looks even brighter. Avidity’s late-stage programs — including those targeting Duchenne muscular dystrophy, myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), and FSHD — will, following close, be able to benefit from Novartis’ global development and commercialization expertise. The potential for first-in-class, disease-modifying therapies is no longer theoretical. It’s on the horizon.

“We are incredibly grateful to CureDuchenne for their early and long-standing belief and support of Avidity. Close collaboration with patient advocacy organizations has been absolutely critical to our scientific and clinical success, and I remain confident in the tremendous potential of our groundbreaking investigational treatments as Avidity prepares for the proposed acquisition by Novartis in the first half of 2026.”
— Sarah Boyce, CEO, Avidity Biosciences

Looking Ahead

This isn’t the end of the story — it’s a beginning.

We are excited to welcome Novartis as a key player in the Duchenne therapeutic landscape. CureDuchenne remains deeply committed to working with industry leaders, researchers, and families to ensure that the most promising science reaches the people who need it most.

Read the full press release HERE