Novo Nordisk has brought on other cardiometabolic collaborators this year, including United Laboratories International and Deep Apple Therapeutics.
Novo Nordisk is looking to add to its obesity pipeline, teaming up with California biotech Replicate Bioscience to design and develop an RNA-based treatment for obesity and diabetes.
The partners did not provide a specific financial breakdown in their announcement on Thursday, revealing only that the Danish pharma is putting $550 million on the line, inclusive of an upfront payment and milestone commitments. Replicate will also be entitled to tiered royalties on future product sales.
The centerpiece of the partnership is Replicate’s self-replicating RNA platform. This an mRNA construct that includes cellular machinery to make copies of an mRNA therapy after it has been dosed and is inside the cell, with the aim of amplifying the effective therapeutic dose in comparison to traditional mRNA therapies.
Such an approach, according to Karina Thorn, corporate vice president of Nucleic Acid Research at Novo, “allows us to create a new avenue for development of novel, impactful therapies.” It is unclear what protein the partners are looking to target.
This year so far, Novo has been on a dealmaking spree to deepen its cardiometabolic pipeline. In January, for instance, the pharma expanded its years-long partnership with Valo Health for $190 million upfront plus $4.6 billion in milestones across up to 20 drug programs for obesity, type 2 diabetes and other conditions.
Then, in March 2025, Novo bet $2 billion to partner with China’s United Laboratories International, gaining worldwide rights to its triple-G asset UBT251. The drug targets the GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors and is currently in early-stage development for obesity. In June, Novo again reached into its purse, taking out $812 million to collaborate with Deep Apple Therapeutics and leverage its proprietary engine for non-incretin oral therapies for obesity.
Novo’s investments come amid a difficult first half of the year, with sales of its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy battered by compounders. Commercial execution has also been suboptimal at the Danish pharma, pushing the company to replace its CEO and lower its full-year sales forecast by 5%. On a year-to-date basis, Novo’s shares have dropped some 44%.
In the second quarter, Wegovy brought home 19.5 billion Danish krone or approximately $3 billion, beating the consensus estimate by 1%.
