The pharma giant said it has agreed to acquire the U.S. privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company to boost its cardiovascular pipeline.

By Ludwig Burger and Ariane Luthi (Reuters) -Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has agreed to acquire Anthos Therapeutics, a biopharma firm majority-owned by Blackstone's drug development unit, for up to $3.

Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis said on Tuesday that it has agreed to buy privately held, clinical-stage US biotech Anthos Therapeutics for up to $3.1 billion. As part of the agreed terms, Novartis will make an upfront payment of $925 million upon closing of the transaction,