Novo Nordisk A/S

Bagsværd, Denmark and Boston, MA, US, 25 February 2026 – Novo Nordisk and Vivtex Corporation today announced a partnership to develop next-generation oral biologic medicines for obesity, diabetes and associated comorbidities. Under the agreement, Vivtex will license select oral drug-delivery technologies to Novo Nordisk, while Vivtex is eligible to receive upfront consideration, research funding and milestone payments totalling up to 2.1 billion US dollars, and tiered royalties on future product sales. “Novo Nordisk has been at the forefront of innovation in protein and peptide engineering for several decades, and not least within oral formulation of peptides. We launched the first-ever oral biologic more than five years ago and have recently launched the world’s first oral biologic for obesity,” said Brian Vandahl, senior vice president, Therapeutics Discovery, at Novo Nordisk. “We continue to push the boundaries of science through both internal and external innovation to fulfil our mission of treating millions more people living with obesity and diabetes and their associated comorbidities.” The collaboration aims to enable the oral delivery of biologic drug candidates that are traditionally limited to injectable administration due to poor absorption in the gastrointestinal tract. The partnership combines Novo Nordisk’s deep expertise in peptide and protein therapeutics with Vivtex’s proprietary gastrointestinal screening and formulation platform to identify next-generation oral therapeutics. “Making biologics oral has been one of the most difficult challenges in drug delivery,” said Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Vivtex. “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.” Vivtex’s platform combines multiple proprietary gastrointestinal screening assays, drug-delivery technologies, and computational simulation and AI capabilities to optimize the oral delivery of biologic medicines. The platform is designed to achieve high oral bioavailability and consistent in-human performance. Following research and formulation selection, Novo Nordisk will assume responsibility for global development, regulatory activities, manufacturing, and commercialization of any resulting products. About Vivtex Corporation Vivtex Corporation is a biotechnology company transforming the oral delivery of therapeutics. Founded by MIT scientists Drs. Thomas von Erlach, Giovanni Traverso, and Robert S. Langer, Vivtex has developed a robotics-driven platform that integrates its proprietary GI-ORIS™ high-throughput screening system — a “GI tract on a chip” — whole-gastrointestinal tissue robotic interface published in Nature Biomedical Engineering , with AI-enabled computational modeling to design and optimize orally delivered therapeutics, including biologics, for predictable human performance. The platform enables rapid screening of thousands of formulations per day and has demonstrated near-perfect correlation with human intestinal absorption, substantially outperforming conventional in vitro models. Vivtex partners with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to advance clinical programs and expand patient access to convenient, effective oral therapies.  Vivtex operates in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and Schlieren, Switzerland. For more information, visit www.vivtex.com . About Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 68,800 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.com , Facebook , X , LinkedIn and YouTube . Contacts for further information

Facing a series of disappointments for its obesity portfolio, Novo Nordisk is likely more motivated than ever to breathe new life into its cardiometabolic pipeline — and it's turning to external sources for that vital refresh. On Wednesday, the Danish drugmaker tapped Vivtex and its AI-powered platform to develop oral biologics for obesity and diabetes. The Boston-based biotech stands to receive up to $2.1 billion across an upfront payment, research funding and milestones, plus tiered royalties. Novo's embrace of Vivtex's oral technology comes as yet another of its injectables was bested by rival Eli Lilly. The pharma's shares fell more than 16% on Monday after disclosing that CagriSema — a fixed-dose injectable that combines Novo's GLP-1 receptor agonist Wegovy (semaglutide) with cagrilintide, a long-acting analogue of the amylin hormone — failed to show non-inferiority versus Lilly's GLP-1/GIP dual agonist Zepbound (tirzepatide) in the Phase III REDEFINE 4 study (see – Spotlight On: What's left for Novo in the obesity race?). With injectable Wegovy having lost its dominant place in the obesity market to Zepbound, the remaining bright spot in Novo's obesity portfolio is the oral formulation of the GLP-1, FDA-approved in December and already seeing impressive uptake (see – Vital Signs: Early energy for oral Wegovy). Oral embraceGiven the early success of the Wegovy pill, Novo seems to be embracing orals as the route by which it will reclaim its weight-loss leadership."Novo Nordisk has long been a leader in peptide therapeutics for metabolic diseases, so they understand both the clinical potential of these medicines and the challenges of delivering them orally," Vivtex CEO Thomas von Erlach told FirstWord. Co-founded by Erlach along with biotech veteran Bob Langer and MIT professor Giovanni Traverso, Vivtex's differentiated — and scalable — approach to oral biologics complements Novo's therapeutic know-how, Erlach said."Dr. Langer has also maintained a long-standing relationship with Novo Nordisk through decades of work in drug delivery and translational science, which has helped foster strong scientific alignment between the teams," he added. Optimising oral delivery with AITo develop oral biologics — an enduring drug development challenge given enzymatic degradation in the digestive tract, poor absorption, and variability in bioavailability — Vivtex is integrating high-throughput screening with predictive AI technologies to optimise both the molecule and its delivery system simultaneously. "Vivtex’s platform is designed specifically to address the core barriers that have historically limited oral biologics," Erlach said. "By combining molecular modeling, AI-enabled design, and large proprietary formulation libraries, we can evaluate how peptide structure, formulation, and delivery interact as an integrated system rather than in isolation." Flexibility is also a key ingredient in Vivtex's oral recipe. The company doesn't rely on a single formulation strategy to create oral biologics — its rapid testing capabilities means that it can refine multiple approaches before selecting the right combination that protects the biologic, enables transport across the intestinal lining, and achieves consistent exposure."This systematic, data-driven process increases the probability of success and shortens the path from concept to clinically viable oral candidates," Erlach said.Vivtex will be responsible for research and formulation selection, after which Novo will take charge of global development, regulatory activities, manufacturing and any commercialisation.

White House , screengrab In his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump urged Republican leaders to pass legislation cementing his new drug pricing initiatives as he touted his efforts to lower healthcare costs for Americans. President Donald Trump called on Congress to codify his Most Favored Nation drug pricing initiative into law, as he delivered the State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday evening. He also touted his efforts to lower drug prices and the success of deals with pharma companies that were signed over the fall. “Under my just enacted Most Favored Nation agreements, Americans who have for decades paid by far the highest prices of any nation anywhere in the world for prescription drugs will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs,” Trump said, according to a transcript of the event. “I took prescription drugs, a very big part of healthcare, from the highest price in the entire world to the lowest. That’s a big achievement.” The White House launched the TrumpRx platform in February , offering select drugs from major pharma companies on a direct-to-consumer basis. Analysts have been skeptical of the program’s ability to lower out-of-pocket costs for patients, as many of the drugs offered were heading for a patent cliff and would be lowered anyway. Other experts also questioned the impact of the program, which would likely only serve uninsured patients or those with high-deductible plans. Most patients would have access to steeper discounts via their regular insurance plans. Pfizer was the first company to sign an MFN deal last year, soon to be followed by the likes of AstraZeneca, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb and more. The CEOs of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk attended a joint announcement at the White House in November to offer their GLP-1 products, including initial doses of upcoming oral weight loss medicines, for $150. Many of the companies reached the agreements in exchange for exemption from tariffs. Drug pricing How Effective Will TrumpRx and Other Direct-to-Consumer Drug Pricing Initiatives Be? With pricing pressures climbing, Pfizer, Eli Lilly and other major drugmakers are looking to sell their products directly to patients. Analysts are skeptical that these efforts, including those announced to much fanfare from the White House, will result in meaningful reductions in drug spending. November 12, 2025 · 11 min read · Tristan Manalac Read More Trump said the TrumpRx platform has lowered drug prices “300, 400, 500, 600 percent and more.” The president specifically pointed to medicines for in vitro fertilization, which are not typically covered by insurance plans. In October, Merck KGaA’s U.S. subsidiary EMD Serono announced an agreement with the U.S. government to broaden access to its fertility medications, including Gonal-F, Ovidrel and Cetrotide. In his address, Trump called out one patient in attendance who was able to access IVF medications for less, Catherine Rayner. Rayner was the first person to utilize the TrumpRx platform, according to the president. “One drug has been costing Catherine $4,000 to purchase. But a few weeks ago, she logged on to the website and got that same drug that cost costs $4,000, got it for under $500, a reduction of much more actually than $3,500,” Trump said. “Catherine, we are all praying for you and you’re going to be a great mom.” With Rayner as an example, Trump urged his Republican leaders in Congress to codify Most Favored Nation drug pricing. “I’m not sure it matters because it’s going to be very hard for somebody that comes along after me to say, let’s raise drug prices by 700 or 800 percent. But John and Mike, if you don’t mind, codify it anyway,” he said, referring to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump already urged Congress to address MFN in a January announcement of “The Great Healthcare Plan,” which seeks to take the drug pricing fight to insurers. Drug pricing Despite MFN Deals, Drug Pricing Will Dog Pharma Into 2026 Only a handful of the top pharmas have signed Most Favored Nation drug pricing deals with the White House, while smaller biotechs continue to hang in limbo. January 6, 2026 · 5 min read · Annalee Armstrong Read More