Novo Nordisk and Dewpoint Therapeutics have inked a deal to use the latter’s biomolecular condensates discovery platform to treat insulin resistance and diabetic complications.
Photo shows Novo Nordisk logo on building/Courtesy joreks/Getty Images
Novo Nordisk and Dewpoint Therapeutics have inked a deal to use the latter’s biomolecular condensates discovery platform to treat insulin resistance and diabetic complications.
The deal couples Novo Nordisk’s experience in diabetes with Dewpoint’s discovery and artificial intelligence (AI) platform. The companies will work to discover potential small molecule drugs against multiple condensate targets.
This alliance will boost Novo Nordisk’s robust diabetes pipeline, which includes many different candidates, according to the company’s website. Novo’s marketed diabetes products include Tresiba (insulin degludec) and Rybelsus (semaglutide).
Dewpoint’s discovery platform is designed to identify modulators of biomolecular candidates. In a November 2022 article published in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, members of Dewpoint’s team said they believe biomolecular condensates are set to revolutionize drug discovery.
“To our knowledge, this is the first time that a cohesive logic has been assembled outlining how a deep understanding of condensate biology can revolutionize the drug discovery process across therapeutic areas,” Isaac Klein, CSO of Dewpoint and corresponding author, said in a statement following the article’s publication.
Dewpoint secured $150 million in a Series C financing round in February 2022 to advance several of its programs, enhance its biology and AI-driven data science platforms and improve its research infrastructure and capabilities.
Under the terms of its new partnership, Dewpoint is eligible to receive $55 million in near-term payments, including an upfront fee, research funding and possible research milestones for two programs. The Boston-based biotech could also receive up to $690 million in clinical, commercial and sales milestones, plus royalties for two products already on the market.
Novo Nordisk has the option of pursuing other modalities for the condensates, which would make Dewpoint eligible to receive an additional $107.5 million in total milestones per product.
This is only the most recent deal Dewpoint has inked. Its list of previous partners include Bayer, Merck and Pfizer.
