Novartis has moved to expand its reach in the oncology market with a memorandum of understanding for the US$3.9 B acquisition of Advanced Accelerator Applications, a company specialising in molecular nuclear medicines. The acquisition brings Lutathera® (lutetium Lu 177 dotatate), a first-in-class peptide receptor radionuclide therapy that was approved in the EU in September 2017 for gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours in adults, as well as a portfolio of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.