Drug delivery partnership to advance next-generation oral therapies and help Novo Nordisk expand its obesity and diabetes portfolio.
Novo Nordisk has signed a $2.1 billion licensing deal with biotechnology company Vivtex Corporation, in a bid to expand its oral biologic pipeline, which includes its blockbuster GLP-1 obesity therapy Wegovy (semaglutide).
The collaboration will develop next-generation oral biologics for obesity and diabetes that are traditionally limited to injectable administration due to poor absorption in the gastrointestinal tract.
The partnership leverages Vivtex’s drug delivery platform, which supports the design of biologic drug candidates with high oral bioavailability. Novo Nordisk will use its expertise in peptide and protein therapeutics to lead development and commercialisation.
Wegovy was the company’s first oral biologic, and the current collaboration builds on launch of the pill form of semaglutide, granted US approval earlier this year as the world’s first oral biologic for obesity.
Partnering with Novo Nordisk allows us to apply our platform across important metabolic disease areas, with the goal of enabling oral therapies that would otherwise require injection"
Thomas von Erlach, PhD, Vivtex’s CEO and co-founder, said: “Making biologics oral has been one of the most difficult challenges in drug delivery.
“Vivtex was founded to systematically solve this problem by integrating high-throughput experimentation with computational and AI-enabled analytics. Partnering with Novo Nordisk allows us to apply our platform across important metabolic disease areas, with the goal of enabling oral therapies that would otherwise require injection.”
Last month, Roche shared positive news on the advancement of its own injectable GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist candidate in obesity. Phase II data showed that a 24mg dose of CT-388 enabled 54 percent of participants to attain resolution of obesity. Additionally, the treatment also demonstrated benefit in pre-diabetic patients, with 73 percent attaining normal blood glucose levels at Week 48.
Last November, Eli Lilly also made a move to expand capabilities for its potential blockbuster obesity treatment orforglipron. The firm plans to build a new €2.6 billion facility in the Netherlands to support production capacity.
