Novo Nordisk taps Septerna in $2.2bn deal for oral obesity therapies

Jenna Philpott

Wed, May 14, 2025, 10:29 AM 3 min read

As contention continues to intensify successful the obesity attraction market, Novo Nordisk has struck a collaboration and licencing woody worthy up to $2.2bn with the US-based biotech Septerna.

The companies program to make oral tiny molecule drugs targeting obesity, benignant 2 diabetes, and different cardiometabolic diseases. The woody is valued astatine up to $2.2bn, including much than $200m successful upfront and near-term payments to Septerna.

The concern centres connected the find and improvement of oral therapeutics aimed astatine G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) – a cardinal people of compartment membrane proteins that modulate divers biologic functions specified arsenic metabolism, hormone secretion, and immune response. Septerna focuses connected drugging GPCRs utilizing proprietary level technologies designed to alteration precision targeting of these analyzable proteins.

Novo Nordisk and Septerna volition jointly initiate 4 preclinical improvement programmes, targeting well-established metabolic receptors for glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), and glucagon. These receptors are halfway to the mechanics of respective existing GLP-1 receptor agonist therapies, including Novo’s starring obesity attraction Wegovy (semaglutide).

Under the presumption of the deal, Novo volition money each probe and improvement activities associated with the partnership. The 2 companies volition collaborate during the find and aboriginal improvement phases, with Novo taking afloat work opening astatine the investigational caller cause (IND)-enabling stage. Septerna retains an enactment to person 1 of the improvement programmes into a profit-sharing arrangement, alternatively than receiving milestone payments.

The statement is portion of Novo Nordisk’s broader strategy to grow its beingness successful the highly competitory obesity attraction market. The Danish pharmaceutical radical has been steadily gathering a pipeline of oral therapies to complement its injectable GLP-1RA products, including Wegovy and Ozempic (semaglutide).

Novo is presently awaiting a regulatory decision from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) connected an oral mentation of Wegovy, with a determination expected successful Q4 2025. If approved, it would beryllium the archetypal oral GLP-1 therapy for obesity.

The collaboration with Septerna follows respective caller transactions by Novo aimed astatine strengthening its pipeline. In March 2025, it signed a woody worthy up to $1bn with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals for the rights to LX9851, an experimental oral therapy for obesity. Earlier successful the year, Novo invested $50m successful Variant Bio to research familial targets for metabolic diseases and partnered with Gensaic to make artificial quality (AI)-driven, tissue-targeted macromolecule therapies successful a $354m deal.