Novo taps Flagship startups to develop drugs for obesity, MASH
Dive Brief:
After finding incredible success with Ozempic and Wegovy, Novo Nordisk is enlisting the help of two biotechnology startups to help it discover new drugs for cardiometabolic disorders.
The latest deals grew out of a larger collaboration between Novo and Flagship Pioneering, the prolific creator and backer of biotechnology startups. In May 2022, Flagship agreed to work with Novo and enlist its portfolio of companies to start three to five new research programs within the first three years.
On Thursday, Novo announced the first step in the collaboration, signing separate deals with two Flagship companies, Omega Therapeutics and Cellarity. The Omega agreement will focus on a new approach to treating obesity, while the Cellarity partnership aims to develop a drug for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, a liver condition previously known as NASH.
Dive Insight:
The agreement gives Novo a way to explore new technologies within a field it already dominates. Demand for its weight loss treatment Wegovy and diabetes medicine Ozempic is so high that the company has had trouble at times making enough of the drugs. Novo is also studying the main ingredient in both brands, semaglutide, for MASH on its own.
Cellarity uses artificial intelligence to try to identify new ways of correcting cellular dysfunction, with the goal of developing a small molecule drug for MASH. The new agreement with Novo builds on a previous deal struck in September 2022 that focused on identifying cell behaviors in MASH.
Omega, meanwhile, is working on a new way to confront obesity, beyond the usual focus on managing a person’s appetite. The company is trying to create an “epigenomic controller” that would enhance a natural function that regulates energy in the body and plays a role in metabolic activity.
Each deal may be worth as much as $532 million in upfront, development and commercial milestone payments. Novo will also cover initial research and development costs and pay royalties on any products that reach the market, which would be shared between the companies and Flagship’s Pioneering Medicines arm.
Pioneering Medicines will work with Novo, Omega and Cellarity to begin the initial research, including preclinical development, according to the agreement. Novo would then take over clinical development if it chose to advance the program.
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