Novo, Orbis sign up to $1.4 billion deal to develop oral drugs
NVO•How the collaboration will work
The multi-target collaboration will use Orbis' AI-enabled nGen platform to discover macrocycles, a class of molecules that could be used to turn treatments traditionally delivered by injection into oral form.
The ring-shaped macrocycles can potentially address disease targets that are difficult for conventional small-molecule drugs to reach.
Orbis CEO Morten Graugaard said in an interview that its synthetic macrocycles had achieved up to 18% oral bioavailability, a measure of how much of a swallowed drug reaches the bloodstream, in preclinical studies.
"Together with Novo, we have an opportunity to unlock a new generation of oral medicines for cardiometabolic diseases and demonstrate the transformative potential of AI-enabled macrocycle drug discovery," Graugaard said.
Novo's broader oral-drug strategy and industry context
A Novo spokesperson said the collaboration builds on SNAC, its oral peptide absorption technology acquired along with U.S. drug delivery company Emisphere Technologies in 2020 and developed since.
"We continue to drive innovation in this area through our internal research and in collaborations with other companies," the spokesperson said.
Johnson & Johnson won U.S. approval in March for Icotyde, an oral macrocyclic peptide for plaque psoriasis, and Merck secured approval in July for Lipfendra, an oral macrocyclic peptide that lowers cholesterol.
Novo and Orbis agree on drug discovery and licensing deal
Orbis Medicines said on Thursday it had signed a drug discovery and licensing deal with Novo Nordisk worth up to to develop oral therapies for cardiometabolic diseases that are traditionally treated with injectable drugs.
