Novo Nordisk recently announced a major collaboration agreement with Vivtex worth up to $2.1 billion to jointly develop next-generation oral biologics for the treatment of obesity, diabetes and related complications.

The core of this collaboration lies in addressing a long-standing and challenging problem in the pharmaceutical industry: how to achieve effective oral administration of large-molecule biologics (such as peptides and protein drugs) . Currently, although oral versions of GLP-1 drugs are available, many biologic candidates still rely on injection for administration due to poor gastrointestinal absorption.

Under the agreement, Vivtex will license its proprietary oral drug delivery technology to Novo Nordisk , while Novo Nordisk will lead the subsequent global development, manufacturing, and commercialization efforts. Vivtex will receive up to $2.1 billion in upfront payments, research funding, milestone payments, and royalties on future product sales.

Founded in 2018 by three scientists from MIT, including Robert Langer, a legendary figure in modern biotechnology and co-founder of Moderna, and his two students Giovanni Traverso and Thomas von Erlach, Vivtex has developed a unique high-throughput screening platform for the gastrointestinal tract using robotic on-chip technology . This platform , combined with artificial intelligence predictive algorithms, can simulate the absorption of drugs in the human gut in vitro, thereby identifying the optimal oral formulation.

This collaboration comes at a turbulent time for Novo Nordisk. Just one day before announcing the partnership with Vivtex, the company announced plans to reduce the prices of its Wegovy and Ozempic products in the U.S. market by up to 50% starting in 2027, in response to increasing price wars and regulatory pressure.

The previous week, the clinical trial results for its next-generation weight-loss drug CagriSema fell short of expectations, causing its stock price to plummet by more than 16% in a single day, hitting a new low since June 2021. Against this backdrop, the collaboration with Vivtex is seen as a key move for Novo Nordisk to rebuild investor confidence and ensure its long-term competitiveness.
In conclusion , Novo Nordisk's $2.1 billion collaboration with Vivtex is not only a high-value technology transfer deal, but also reflects the entire pharmaceutical industry's collective pursuit of oral biologics. Against the backdrop of a continued rise in the number of obese and diabetic patients worldwide, whoever can first overcome the technological bottlenecks of oral delivery will gain a competitive advantage in the next generation of weight-loss drugs.

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