In a deal worth up to $285 million initially for the lead program, Novo Nordisk will gain access to Ascendis’ TransCon technology platform in an effort to find novel GLP-1 candidates with reduced dosing frequency.
Novo Nordisk is sticking close to home for its latest GLP-1 deal, signing a $285 million partnership with fellow Danish company Ascendis Pharma to work on new therapeutics for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
Ascendis will provide access to its TransCon technology platform in an effort to find GLP-1 candidates with reduced dosing frequency, according to a Monday press release. The $285 million payment includes an upfront fee plus development and regulatory milestone payments for the lead program, plus royalties. The company is also eligible for $77.5 million in milestones plus sales-based royalties for each additional program.
The lead program is a once-monthly GLP-1 receptor agonist that Novo will initially develop in obesity and type 2 diabetes. The pharma has exclusive rights to later expand to other indications.
Ascendis will lead early development of the product candidates, while Novo will be responsible for the costs. Novo will also handle clinical development through commercialization.
Brian Vandahl, senior vice president of Novo’s Global Research Technologies, said the goal of the partnership is to find new treatments in the GLP-1 space that can be dosed less frequently, potentially reducing patient burden and costs.
Novo and competitor Eli Lilly have established the market in obesity and weight loss with GLP-1s Wegovy and Zepbound, respectively. But the next wave of therapies in development is focused on ease of administration, including oral options and less-frequent dosing.
Both Novo and Lilly have signed a handful of deals to build out its future pipeline—of GLP-1s specifically and weight loss drug development more broadly. Prior to Ascendis, Novo signed a $600 million partnership with Metaphore Biotechnologies in May to develop two new GLP-1 receptor agonists. That deal is part of a larger partnership with venture creation firm Flagship Pioneering that was signed in 2022. In January, Novo linked up with EraCal in a licensing deal worth $225 million to gain access to an oral small molecule program for metabolic diseases.
