Novo Nordisk to acquire obesity drug maker Inversago Pharma for up to $1 billion

Novo Nordisk connected Thursday said it volition get Inversago Pharma, a privately held obesity cause maker, for up to $1.08 billion to broaden the Danish company's blockbuster weight nonaccomplishment portfolio. 

The woody is Novo Nordisk's latest effort to capitalize connected the weight nonaccomplishment industry golden rush, which began past twelvemonth aft its Wegovy and Ozempic injections skyrocketed successful popularity. 

The deal's terms depends connected whether Inversago reaches definite improvement and income goals, Novo Nordisk said successful a release. The companies expect to adjacent the acquisition earlier the extremity of the year. 

Canada-based Inversago develops experimental therapies to dainty radical with obesity, diabetes and different conditions affecting the body's metabolism. 

Inversago's drugs usage a antithetic attack than astir treatments successful the obesity and diabetes space. They artifact a macromolecule successful the encephalon called cannabinoid receptor benignant 1, which plays a relation successful metabolism and regulating a person's appetite. 

Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic enactment by mimicking a hormone produced successful the gut to suppress a person's appetite. 

"The acquisition of Inversago Pharma volition further fortify our objective improvement pipeline successful obesity and related disorders," said Martin Holst Lange, Novo Nordisk's enforcement vice president for development, successful a release.

"This promising people of medicine pioneered by the Inversago squad could pb to life-changing caller attraction options for those surviving with a superior chronic illness and, successful particular, whitethorn connection alternate oregon complementary solutions for radical surviving with obesity," helium added.

Inversago's starring therapy is an oral cause that helped patients suffer an mean of 7.7 pounds aft 28 days successful a tiny phase-one objective trial. Those who took a placebo successful that proceedings gained 1 lb connected mean during the aforesaid clip period. 

Novo Nordisk intends to further analyse the imaginable of the oral cause for obesity and obesity-related complications.

Separately connected Thursday, Novo Nordisk reported second-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook owed to soaring request for its obesity and diabetes products. 

But the drugmaker said it is extending proviso restrictions successful the U.S. for immoderate doses of Wegovy. 

Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen connected Thursday, successful an interrogation with Reuters, signaled that important request for Wegovy volition outstrip availabilities successful the foreseeable future. He said the institution volition apt person limits of availability of Wegovy into 2024.