(Bloomberg) -- Novartis agreed to buy US biotech Mariana Oncology Inc. to strengthen its pipeline of drugs that can specifically target cancer cells. 

The Swiss company said Thursday it will pay $1 billion upfront for the Watertown, Massachusetts-based firm, with an additional $750 million of milestone payments if certain targets are reached. 

The deal adds to a Novartis portfolio of targeted radioactive therapies that’s led by Pluvicto, a prostate cancer treatment. Known as radioligand treatments, they use targeted particles to attack tumors directly, while limiting damage to the surrounding cells. 

Mariana is a clinical-stage biotech with a portfolio of experimental drugs to treat a range of solid tumors, such as breast, prostate and lung cancer. The biotech’s lead drug in development is MC-339, an actinium-based therapy being investigated in small cell lung cancer. 

Novartis said the acquisition will also bolster its research infrastructure and clinical supply capabilities. 

Drugmakers are scrambling to get into radiopharmaceutical treatments, and Novartis has shown the value of the potential market. Its Pluvicto is approved for certain types of prostate cancer and is expected to become a multi-billion dollar blockbuster. AstraZeneca Plc is buying Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. scooped up Point Biopharma and Bristol-Myers Squibb bought RayzeBio.

Read More: Nuclear Medicine Is Big Pharma’s New Target in Cancer Race 

Key to many of these transactions is supply. The radioactive isotope used in the therapy can be produced in a nuclear reactor, with a limited number of providers. Stringent regulatory requirements around manufacturing further limit companies’ options. And when the products are made, they need to get to patients in a matter of days.

Astra pointed to Fusion’s access to the radioactive metal actinium when it announced the deal in March. 

Shares in radiopharma companies have jumped as large drugmakers race to scoop up the most promising biotechs. 

The move on Mariana is the latest deal for Novartis, which is in the process of buying MorphoSys AG for €2.7 billion ($2.9 billion), a German biotech that has a late-stage trial underway for a drug that could treat myelofibrosis, a cancer affecting the bone marrow. 

Novartis shares were little changed at 1:53 p.m. Swiss time. 

(Updates with more details, market context)

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