Royalty Pharma falls after Novartis' cholesterol drug fails in study

Novartis AG

08/09/2026 17:40

** Shares of Royalty Pharma RPRX.O fall 6% to $60.14 in afternoon trade
** RPRX buys royalties of future drugs from academic labs and biotechs
** Swiss drugmaker Novartis' NOVN.S cholesterol drug pelacarsen fails in a closely watched study
** RPRX says its $500 million funding agreement with NOVN's partner Ionis IONS.O was structured to limit risk with stable and predictable royalties in another drug Spinraza and potential gains from pelacarsen
** RPRX expects to recoup its total investment and earn a modest positive return despite pelacarsen's failure
**  "We had previously estimated combined 2032 end-market sales of $1.6B (for pelacarsen and Amgen's olpasiran) and royalties of $80MM (1% of RPRX revenue). A missed opportunity, but the growth outlook is little changed" - Royalty Pharma 
** RPRX reiterates "its 2030 Portfolio Receipts target of $4.7 billion or more"
** Including session's move, stock up 54.7% YTD

 (Reporting by Puyaan Singh)
 ((Puyaan.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))