Ascendis Pharma And Novo Nordisk Partner On TransCon-Based Treatments For Metabolic Diseases

Ascendis Pharma has granted Novo Nordisk exclusive worldwide rights to its TransCon technology platform for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Novo Nordisk’s proprietary products targeting metabolic diseases, including obesity and type 2 diabetes, as well as a product-specific license for cardiovascular diseases. Novo Nordisk must have TransCon-based products advanced to maintain exclusivity in these fields and significantly expand metabolic disease treatments to other therapeutic areas.

This partnership's lead program will be a once-monthly GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity and type 2 diabetes management. The lead product shall be available with a gross up-front, developmental and regulatory milestones payout of $285 million. The total sum would include the possible development-based sales milestones and the royalties on tiered, worldwide sales. With multiple products, more than one targeting either metabolic or cardiovascular diseases, there can be possible earnings of up to $77.5 million in the way of developmental and regulatory milestones and tiered royalties on worldwide net sales.

Ascendis will manage the early-stage development of TransCon product candidates, with Novo Nordisk funding these early costs and overseeing clinical development, regulatory activities, manufacturing, and commercialisation. The agreement’s finalization is subject to regulatory approvals, with both companies aiming to close the deal by year-end 2024.

Ascendis Pharma’s President and Chief Executive Officer Jan Mikkelsen, mentioned, “We are pleased to collaborate with Novo Nordisk, an established expert in metabolic diseases, to maximize the potential of TransCon products for helping patients.” He also said, “The agreement with Novo Nordisk reflects our Vision 2030 to create value in additional large therapeutic areas outside endocrinology rare disease through collaborations with established global leaders.”

Brian Vandahl, Senior Vice President of Global Research Technologies at Novo Nordisk, “Developing potential therapies that can be administered less frequently could benefit societies as well as individual patients, and it is a clear focus area for Novo Nordisk. We look forward to working with Ascendis to explore the potential of the TransCon technology platform to reduce the dosing frequency of GLP-1 receptor agonists and other treatments for cardiometabolic diseases.”