Novo Nordisk Inks Obesity-Related R&D Deals with Local Biotechs

As the first two programs signed under its collaboration with Flagship Pioneering, Novo Nordisk has entered into separate research collaborations with Omega Therapeutics and Cellarity. The companies, both founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2017, are based in Cambridge and Somerville, respectively. The Omega collaboration will leverage its proprietary platform technology to develop a potential new treatment approach for obesity. The Cellarity collaboration plans to develop a small molecule therapy for MASH, a chronic, progressive, obesity-related liver disease with no currently approved treatment.

“Novo Nordisk is committed to advancing new treatment options for people living with cardiometabolic diseases. To that end, it is essential that we complement our internal research with external innovation and work with partners who are bringing forward cutting-edge technology. Both companies offer differentiated and novel approaches, including Omega’s expertise in controlled epigenomic modulation and Cellarity’s deep insights into applying human data and artificial intelligence to the development of new medicines” said Marcus Schindler, executive vice president and chief scientific officer at Novo Nordisk.

“These collaboration agreements with Omega and Cellarity are an exciting demonstration of how our partnership with Novo Nordisk is leveraging the unique bioplatform technologies within the Flagship ecosystem to develop potentially transformational medicines,” said Paul Biondi, president, Pioneering Medicines, and executive partner, Flagship Pioneering. “By bringing these innovative platforms together with Novo Nordisk’s deep expertise in cardiometabolic disease we have incredible potential to make a bigger leap forward for patients.”

Each company, Novo Nordisk and Pioneering Medicines will jointly advance these respective programs through preclinical development and conduct foundational activities, after which point Novo Nordisk could advance the programs into clinical studies. Under the terms of the respective agreements, Novo Nordisk will reimburse R&D costs. Additionally, each agreement may pay up to $532 million in upfront, development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales of a licensed product, to be shared between the respective companies and Flagship’s Pioneering Medicines. (Source: Novo Nordisk Website, 04 January,2024)