Post by luxetvox on Sept 1, 2023 15:41:11 GMT
Maybe today or, as I've suggested, even yesterday, would be a good time for Opko to make a few calls about the dust gathering atoms that comprise the oxyntomodulin molecule. While LeaderMed/LingKang/Lionco/Lingmai is on the case in China (after they raise $250 in an IPO, next year), Opko retains "full rights to Oxyntomodulin...in all other geographies." Since Wegovy and Ozempic are cash printing presses for Novo Nordisk, the company has money to burn as it seeks to create an ever larger cardiometabolic disease pipeline. Does Zerhouni speak Danish?
"https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/novo_nordisk_acquires_embark_biotech_in_deal_worth_over_470m_1497000#:~:text=Novo%20gains%20access%20to%20Embark%27s%20lead%20asset%20targeting%20obesity%20and%20other%20cardiometabolic%20diseases&text=Novo%20Nordisk%20has%20announced%20its,Danish%20drugmaker%27s%20cardiometabolic%20disease%20pipeline.
Novo Nordisk acquires Embark Biotech in deal worth over €470m
Novo gains access to Embark's lead asset targeting obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases
Novo Nordisk has announced its acquisition of Embark Biotech in a deal worth over €470m, marking another expansion of the Danish drugmaker’s cardiometabolic disease pipeline.
The transaction gives the Danish drugmaker full rights to develop and commercialise Embark Biotech's lead asset targeting obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases.
In exchange, Embark Biotech will receive an upfront cash payment of €15m and will also be eligible to receive potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones of up to €456m.
Embark Biotech spun out of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen in 2017 and began collaborating with Novo in 2018.
The company’s focus has previously been on two targets identified by its discovery platform: a peptide drug called EMB1 for the treatment of cardiometabolic disease, and EMB2, a small-molecule drug designed to drive weight loss by raising glucose uptake and energy expenditure.
As part of the deal, Novo has also entered into a three-year research and development collaboration with Embark Laboratories, a new company focused on cardiometabolic disease which has been spun out of Embark Biotech and is led by the same team.
The collaboration with Embark Laboratories provides Novo with the option to acquire selected assets based on the Embark Biotech discovery across several indications, including obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Brian Finan, Novo’s vice president of obesity research, said: “Novo Nordisk has been engaged in obesity research for 25 years, and we continuously search for new ways to address this serious chronic disease.
“We are excited about the opportunity to advance Embark Biotech’s lead programme and look forward to co-creating novel treatments for cardiometabolic diseases with Embark Laboratories to complement our in-house research and development.”
Zach Gerhart-Hines, chief technology officer at Embark Laboratories, added: “There is a clear strategic fit between the novel biology we have discovered and Novo Nordisk’s expertise and focus on developing new drugs in the cardiometabolic space. We are thrilled to pass on the baton for our lead metabolic programme to Novo Nordisk.”
The deal comes just a few weeks after Novo said it would be acquiring metabolic disorders specialist Inversago Pharma for over $1bn.
The transaction includes Inversago’s lead asset, INV-202, a CB1 receptor blocker being developed to treat metabolic syndrome and its associated complications.
And then there's this:
Novo Is Adding More Production to Meet Wegovy Demand, CEO says
2023-09-01 14:35:50.231 GMT
By Christian Wienberg
(Bloomberg) -- Novo Nordisk A/S is working on adding an
extra production line to help meet surging US demand for its
blockbuster obesity medicine Wegovy, its chief executive officer
said.
“We’re basically selling everything we can produce and when
it comes to manufacturing, we’re ramping up significantly as we
speak,” Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said on Friday in an interview
with Bloomberg TV’s Katie Greifeld.
Novo is rolling out the weight-loss drug gradually across
the world, trying to meet demand while also supplying patients
with diabetes treatment Ozempic, which is made from the same
active ingredient.
Jorgensen declined to identify the contract manufacturers
Novo may use to help meet the rising demand, but said it started
the year with one. The drugmaker now has one more line operating
and is working on getting an additional line in.
“We’re constantly ramping up the number of lines we supply
the US market with and that’s what’s leading to this very
significant growth we see right now,” he said. “Still, demand is
bigger than what we can supply and that has led to us reducing
the number of starter doses.”
Reuters reported last week, citing a source familiar with
the matter, that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. had been hired as
a second manufacturer of Wegovy.
Investors’ enthusiasm over the weight-loss drug turned Novo
into Europe’s largest company by market value earlier on Friday,
surpassing luxury conglomerate LVMH.
This week, the US government revealed a list of the first
10 drugs it’s targeting for price cuts under negotiations with
Medicare. Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic could be included in future
lists, analysts said.
Jorgensen said “it’s still a bit early for us to judge what
this exactly means,” but added there’s “concern that it could
turn into price fixing, which I think is bad for patients and
access to innovation.”
"https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/novo_nordisk_acquires_embark_biotech_in_deal_worth_over_470m_1497000#:~:text=Novo%20gains%20access%20to%20Embark%27s%20lead%20asset%20targeting%20obesity%20and%20other%20cardiometabolic%20diseases&text=Novo%20Nordisk%20has%20announced%20its,Danish%20drugmaker%27s%20cardiometabolic%20disease%20pipeline.
Novo Nordisk acquires Embark Biotech in deal worth over €470m
Novo gains access to Embark's lead asset targeting obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases
Novo Nordisk has announced its acquisition of Embark Biotech in a deal worth over €470m, marking another expansion of the Danish drugmaker’s cardiometabolic disease pipeline.
The transaction gives the Danish drugmaker full rights to develop and commercialise Embark Biotech's lead asset targeting obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases.
In exchange, Embark Biotech will receive an upfront cash payment of €15m and will also be eligible to receive potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones of up to €456m.
Embark Biotech spun out of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen in 2017 and began collaborating with Novo in 2018.
The company’s focus has previously been on two targets identified by its discovery platform: a peptide drug called EMB1 for the treatment of cardiometabolic disease, and EMB2, a small-molecule drug designed to drive weight loss by raising glucose uptake and energy expenditure.
As part of the deal, Novo has also entered into a three-year research and development collaboration with Embark Laboratories, a new company focused on cardiometabolic disease which has been spun out of Embark Biotech and is led by the same team.
The collaboration with Embark Laboratories provides Novo with the option to acquire selected assets based on the Embark Biotech discovery across several indications, including obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Brian Finan, Novo’s vice president of obesity research, said: “Novo Nordisk has been engaged in obesity research for 25 years, and we continuously search for new ways to address this serious chronic disease.
“We are excited about the opportunity to advance Embark Biotech’s lead programme and look forward to co-creating novel treatments for cardiometabolic diseases with Embark Laboratories to complement our in-house research and development.”
Zach Gerhart-Hines, chief technology officer at Embark Laboratories, added: “There is a clear strategic fit between the novel biology we have discovered and Novo Nordisk’s expertise and focus on developing new drugs in the cardiometabolic space. We are thrilled to pass on the baton for our lead metabolic programme to Novo Nordisk.”
The deal comes just a few weeks after Novo said it would be acquiring metabolic disorders specialist Inversago Pharma for over $1bn.
The transaction includes Inversago’s lead asset, INV-202, a CB1 receptor blocker being developed to treat metabolic syndrome and its associated complications.
And then there's this:
Novo Is Adding More Production to Meet Wegovy Demand, CEO says
2023-09-01 14:35:50.231 GMT
By Christian Wienberg
(Bloomberg) -- Novo Nordisk A/S is working on adding an
extra production line to help meet surging US demand for its
blockbuster obesity medicine Wegovy, its chief executive officer
said.
“We’re basically selling everything we can produce and when
it comes to manufacturing, we’re ramping up significantly as we
speak,” Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said on Friday in an interview
with Bloomberg TV’s Katie Greifeld.
Novo is rolling out the weight-loss drug gradually across
the world, trying to meet demand while also supplying patients
with diabetes treatment Ozempic, which is made from the same
active ingredient.
Jorgensen declined to identify the contract manufacturers
Novo may use to help meet the rising demand, but said it started
the year with one. The drugmaker now has one more line operating
and is working on getting an additional line in.
“We’re constantly ramping up the number of lines we supply
the US market with and that’s what’s leading to this very
significant growth we see right now,” he said. “Still, demand is
bigger than what we can supply and that has led to us reducing
the number of starter doses.”
Reuters reported last week, citing a source familiar with
the matter, that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. had been hired as
a second manufacturer of Wegovy.
Investors’ enthusiasm over the weight-loss drug turned Novo
into Europe’s largest company by market value earlier on Friday,
surpassing luxury conglomerate LVMH.
This week, the US government revealed a list of the first
10 drugs it’s targeting for price cuts under negotiations with
Medicare. Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic could be included in future
lists, analysts said.
Jorgensen said “it’s still a bit early for us to judge what
this exactly means,” but added there’s “concern that it could
turn into price fixing, which I think is bad for patients and
access to innovation.”