Novo Nordisk and Orbis Medicines have announced a strategic collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop oral macrocycle therapeutics for cardiometabolic diseases.  

Under the terms of the agreement, Orbis Medicines is eligible to receive up to $1.4 billion in upfront and potential development and commercial milestone payments, in addition to tiered royalties on future product sales. Novo will also make a strategic investment in Orbis Medicines. 

The collaboration will leverage Orbis Medicines’ proprietary nGen platform, which integrates generative AI and high-throughput synthesis capabilities. The platform’s multi-parameter optimisation (MPO) engine designs nCycles with good drug-like properties, continuously improved through one of the industry’s largest experimental macrocycle datasets, which Orbis is generating in real time via its lab-in-the-loop nGen platform. 

“Orbis Medicines has developed a differentiated platform for macrocycle drug discovery, combining deep expertise in macrocycle chemistry with AI-enabled molecular design,” said Brian Vandahl, Senior Vice President, Therapeutics Discovery, Novo. “We believe this collaboration has the potential to unlock innovative oral treatment options for patients with cardiometabolic diseases while expanding the possibilities of macrocycle therapeutics.” 

This follows an announcement that Novo Nordisk and Anthropic will collaborate to accelerate the development of new medicines and advance AI-driven software development. 

The companies will jointly address key drug discovery challenges identified by scientists and computational teams at Novo, develop targeted solutions for specific scientific challenges and workflows to support biological reasoning, and help accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines. 

“This partnership is another testament to our ambition to become the world’s most AI-driven healthcare company, building on Novo’s current AI initiatives with other technology partners. Joining forces with Anthropic will supercharge our R&D organisation and help us on our mission to bring new, transformative health solutions to people living with chronic diseases,” said Mike Doustdar, President and CEO of Novo.