Ophthotech Soars On $1 Billion Novartis Partnership
Shares of small biotech Ophthotech (OPHT) surged 21% in morning trading on the stock market today, after the firm announced a big-pharma partnership for its eye-drug candidate late Monday. Ophthotech inked a deal worth as much as $1 billion with Novartis (NVS) to commercialize Fovista, a treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) now in phase-three testing. Novartis will pay $200 million upfront followed by a series of milestone