Novo Nordisk And Vivtex Form Major Partnership To Develop Next-Generation Oral Biologics For Obesity, Diabetes, And Metabolic Diseases With Deal Worth Up To $2.1 Billion

Novo Nordisk and Vivtex Corporation announced a new partnership to advance the development of next-generation oral biologic medicines targeting obesity, diabetes, and related metabolic conditions. This collaboration brings together the capabilities of both companies to address one of the most significant challenges in drug delivery, making biologics available in oral form instead of injections.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vivtex will license specific oral drug-delivery technologies to Novo Nordisk. In return, Vivtex will receive an upfront payment, dedicated research funding, and milestone payments that could total up to 2.1 billion US dollars. The company will also be eligible for tiered royalties on future product sales, depending on the commercial success of any therapies developed through the partnership.

According to Brian Vandahl, senior vice president of Therapeutics Discovery at Novo Nordisk, the company has spent decades innovating in protein and peptide engineering, including pioneering work in oral biologic formulation. He noted that Novo Nordisk launched the first oral biologic more than five years ago and recently introduced the world’s first oral biologic for obesity. He added that the company remains committed to expanding treatment access for people living with obesity, diabetes, and their related health complications by investing in both internal research and external collaborations such as this one.

The core goal of the partnership is to overcome the absorption barriers that make biologic medicines difficult to deliver orally. Most biologics degrade or fail to absorb efficiently in the gastrointestinal tract, which is why they are commonly administered through injections. By combining Novo Nordisk’s experience in peptide and protein therapeutics with Vivtex’s advanced gastrointestinal screening and formulation platform, both organizations aim to identify effective oral drug candidates with improved absorption and performance.

Vivtex’s CEO and co-founder, Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., explained that making biologics orally available has long been considered one of the biggest hurdles in drug delivery. He shared that Vivtex was founded specifically to tackle this challenge by integrating high-throughput experimentation, computational modeling, and AI-driven analysis. He emphasized that partnering with Novo Nordisk will allow Vivtex to apply its platform across key metabolic disease areas, with the goal of creating oral therapies that could replace injectable treatments.

Vivtex’s platform uses proprietary gastrointestinal screening assays, novel drug-delivery technologies, and simulation tools to optimize formulations for oral biologics. The system is designed to improve bioavailability and help ensure consistent results when medicines progress into human studies.

Following the research and formulation selection phase, Novo Nordisk will take responsibility for global clinical development, regulatory submissions, manufacturing, and eventual commercialization of any products resulting from the collaboration. This structure allows Vivtex to focus on its core screening and formulation strengths while leveraging Novo Nordisk’s global infrastructure to bring new oral biologic therapies to patients.