On July 6, Novartis fell 3.05% in regular trading, trading at $155.02/share, with turnover of $103 million. The decline was triggered by the company's announcement that it has agreed to acquire UK-based biotechnology firm Myricx Bio for up to $1.5 billion.

According to the company's statement, Myricx shareholders will receive $1.1 billion in upfront payments, plus up to $400 million in potential milestone payments. The deal adds Myricx's antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) pipeline to Novartis's oncology portfolio. This marks the latest in a series of aggressive M&A moves by Novartis, which previously acquired Avidity Biosciences for $12 billion in October and agreed to buy Excellergy for up to $2 billion in March, signaling an accelerating capital deployment strategy that appears to have weighed on investor sentiment.

Within the Pharmacy sector, the broader group traded lower. Among major peers, Eli Lilly fell 1.37%, Pfizer fell 2.54%, Johnson & Johnson fell 2.14%, Merck fell 2.04%, and Novo-Nordisk fell 3.21%.

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