Novartis announced it will acquire Avidity Biosciences for roughly $12 billion to add three late‑stage antibody‑oligonucleotide conjugate (AOC) programs and Avidity’s muscle delivery platform to its neuroscience and RNA portfolio. The deal transfers Avidity’s del‑zota, del‑desiran and del‑brax AOC programs—targeting Duchenne, myotonic dystrophy and FSHD—into Novartis’ clinical engine. Novartis said the acquisition accelerates its 'xRNA' strategy to expand RNA therapeutics beyond liver delivery into muscle and cardiac tissues. Avidity’s platform uses transferrin receptor‑binding antibodies to ferry oligonucleotides into muscle cells; Avidity has regulatory interactions and near‑term BLA/registrational milestones on the calendar. The transaction is structured to carve early cardiology programs into a SpinCo and is expected to close in H1 2026 subject to restructuring and regulatory approvals. For readers: AOCs combine antibody targeting with oligonucleotide modalities to overcome the delivery barrier that limits many systemic RNA therapies.