Korro Bio Inc. has established a collaboration with Novo Nordisk A/S to advance the discovery and development of new genetic medicines, initially to treat cardiometabolic diseases. The collaboration brings together Novo Nordisk’s deep cardiometabolic disease understanding and drug development experience with Korro’s proprietary platform to develop RNA editing product candidates for two undisclosed targets.
Biocom California’s most recent edition of its Let's Talk About series covered the future of women’s health. The panel of executives from companies and investors in women’s health were frustrated about the state of funding for the space. “Only about 1% of health care R&D dollars go [specifically] to women’s health outside of oncology,” Jenn Kiang, director of corporate affairs and development at Daré Bioscience Inc. told the audience. But the opportunity is huge, she said.
As Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Co. go head-to-head in the U.S. and Chinese glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) market for diabetes and obesity, Novo Nordisk is in innovator gear once more with leading studies of GLP-1s in Alzheimer’s disease.
Chinese pharmaceutical and biotech companies are leading development of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists as Novo Nordisk A/S and Eli Lilly and Co. edge closer to launching blockbuster therapies in China. At the heart of the GLP-1 boom is a nationwide obesity problem driven by a confluence of factors, including the rise of a modern, sedentary lifestyle, according to Clarivate. Despite the rising prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes, the gap in obesity therapeutics is “substantial and leaves a solid market opportunity for weight loss drugs,” Karan Verma, principal analyst of healthcare research & data analytics at Clarivate, said.
Novo Nordisk A/S has exercised an option to license a ligand identified by Kallyope Inc. for further development, including as a potential new approach for the treatment of obesity.
Two leading glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists for obesity and type 2 diabetes – Novo Nordisk A/S’s semaglutide (Wegovy/Ozempic) and Eli Lilly and Co.’s tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) – are advancing in China after taking the U.S. market by storm. China represents the world’s largest population of diabetes and obesity patients. Its GLP-1 market, valued at about $1.7 billion in 2023 according to Clarivate, is expected to grow as the number of obesity patients is projected to exceed 500 million by 2033.
With Novo Nordisk A/S hobbled by a complete response letter, Eli Lilly and Co. has forged ahead in developing a once-weekly type 2 diabetes treatment. Top-line data from Lilly’s phase III Qwint-1 and Qwint-3 studies of efsitora alfa showed noninferior average levels of blood glucose, A1C, compared to those using another daily basal insulin treatment.
In the wake of shortages for Novo Nordisk A/S’ Ozempic (semaglutide), Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has announced that Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient, is now available in Australia and is advising prescribers to stop prescribing Ozempic off-label for weight loss.
In the wake of shortages for Novo Nordisk A/S’ Ozempic (semaglutide), Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has announced that Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient, is now available in Australia and is advising prescribers to stop prescribing Ozempic off-label for weight loss.
Novo Nordisk A/S presented a mixed bag of R&D results for its cardiometabolic assets in the first half of 2024 as it axed three drug candidates but advanced one to a late-stage study. In the search for greener pastures beyond a crowding obesity market, Novo announced Aug. 7 that it advanced ziltivekimab into a phase III study to assess the subcutaneous therapy’s cardiovascular outcomes in acute myocardial infarction patients.
