Alcon—the eye-focused pharma spun out of Novartis—is handing over $550 million to buy out Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, its encapsulated cell therapy platform and commercial medicine Encelto.
Encelto, greenlit in March of 2025, is the first and only FDA approved therapy for macular telangiectasia type 2, a rare and progressive type of central vision loss. So far, the drug is only available in the U.S., where Neurotech estimates there are 25,000 MacTel patients and 2,000 to 3,000 new diagnoses each year. Through the merger, Alcon will now endeavor give the drug-device combo a more global reach, the pharma said in a statement.
Neurotech will also bring the tech behind Encelto to Alcon. The biotech’s encapsulated cell therapy approach pairs a surgically placed implant with cells that have been genetically engineered to produce therapeutic proteins. In the case of Encelto, the implant continuously releases recombinant human ciliary neurotrophic factor (rhCNTF), a protein that can travel to the retina and protect the photoreceptors—cells that are implicated in MacTel vision loss.
While Encelto is Neurotech’s only approved drug and so far has just one indication, the delivery platform could boast a meaningful development advantage over treatments for other chronic eye conditions that often rely on repeat injections.
"Neurotech's innovative platform sits at the intersection of cell therapy, pharmaceuticals, and surgery, making it a highly complementary addition to our current capabilities and advancing our vision for the future of retinal disease treatment,” David Endicott, CEO of Alcon, said in a statement.
Alcon may be required to make milestone payments beyond the deal's initial $550 million if certain commercial checkpoints are crossed. The company said it expects the merger to modestly add to its net sales growth and slightly lower its projected earnings per share in 2027 before becoming accretive.
The Neurotech acquisition is just the latest in a series of M&A moves that eye-focused Alcon has leveraged to grow and diversify its pharma portfolio. In 2021, the company paid $355 million for Novartis’ Simbrinza. And in 2022, it paid $770 million for Aerie Pharmaceuticals and its glaucoma and ocular hypertension meds Rhopressa and Rocklatan, following that deal up with the $60 million purchase of dry eye disease (DED) med Eysuvis and post-ocular surgery treatment Inveltys from Kala Pharmaceuticals.
In 2025, Alcon secured FDA approval for its own DED treatment, Tryptyr, its first regulatory win since leaving Novartis. Alcon reported $5.5 billion in the first half of 2026, a 9% increase year-over-year.
Because Neurotech is a privately held company, sales for Encelto have not been publicly disclosed.