Orbis emerged from stealth in February 2024 with $28.1 million in seed funding. The Danish biotech, which aims to flip biologics into oral medicines, has now raised another $93 million.
Denmark’s Orbis Medicines is kicking off the year with another $93.2 million in financing and the second of the two major GLP-1 pharmas now behind it.
Orbis emerged from stealth in February 2024 with €26 million ($28.1 million) in seed funding. The financing round was supported by Novo Nordisk’s parent company, Novo Holdings. Now, the oral macrocycle drug discovery biotech is back with another €90 million ($93.2 million) in a series A round, with Eli Lilly joining Novo as another high-profile backer.
Both companies seem to be interested in Orbis’ oral drug delivery tech, which can churn out high-value oral alternatives to blockbuster biologic drugs. It’s not hard to see why both Novo and Lilly may want to get in on the ground floor. Both are overseeing mega blockbuster GLP-1 products, which must be injected on a weekly basis. The two pharmas are also developing additional weight loss candidates, including orals.
Obris said the new funds will be used to support the development of a pipeline of oral macrocycle drugs called nCycles based on approved biologics.
At the same time as the financing, Orbis announced the appointment of Morten Graugaard Døssing as CEO. He previously served as executive chair of Orbis’ board of directors.
The company was founded in 2021 by Novo Holdings’ Seeds Investment team based on science from Chrisitan Heinis and Sevan Habeshian at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. Habeshian is also co-founder and CTO at Orbis.
Orbis recently expanded its operations capacity by joining Symbion’s new biotech startup hub in Fuglebakken, Copenhagen. The new location will house R&D and executive team members.
