Novo Nordisk’s collaboration with artificial intelligence startup Valo Health has focused on developing new drugs for cardiovascular disease. The pharmaceutical giant likes what it’s seen so far, and it’s now committing $190 million (Opens in a new window) to expand the alliance to more cardiometabolic disorders, including obesity and type 2 diabetes.
The sum announced Wednesday encompasses an upfront payment, equity investment, and a potential near-term payment for a milestone that was not disclosed. The initial agreement inked in 2023 spanned up to 11 cardiovascular disease programs (Opens in a new window). Lexington, Massachusetts-based Valo received $60 million up front and was in line for as much as $2.7 billion in milestone payments. The alliance now spans 20 programs. Milestone payments in the expanded pact could reach up to $4.6 billion.
While Novo Nordisk has established a strong position in metabolic disease with the GLP-1 agonist semaglutide, marketed as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for obesity, the pharmaceutical giant has also invested in the R&D of next-generation medicines that could offer better tolerability and perhaps even greater weight loss. One of the company’s top prospects is CagriSema, a combination of semaglutide with cagrilintide. Last month, the once-weekly injection posted statistically significant Phase 3 results (Opens in a new window). But shares of Novo Nordisk still took a hit as the magnitude of weight loss was below expectations.
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Novo Nordisk has turned to business development (Opens in a new window) to build its pipeline of metabolic medicines. These deals bring drug candidates in oral formulations (Opens in a new window) that could expand the field to new targets (Opens in a new window). Specific targets covered by Novo Nordisk’s agreement with Valo remain undisclosed, but the companies say the collaboration has already led to identification of “several novel targets” with the potential to lead to differentiated cardiometabolic drugs. They add that work is underway on multiple small molecule programs in preclinical development.
Valo launched in 2020, formed and initially financed by Flagship Pioneering, a firm that forms and invests in new startups based on platform technologies. The AI-driven simulations from its technology, called Opal Computational Platform, predict properties such as the safety and efficacy of a potential drug. Valo takes a human-centric approach to AI, CEO Brian Alexander said in an email. The company analyzes real-world human data to identify novel drug targets. Valo also utilizes human models to rapidly discover and develop small molecules that hit those targets.
Opal is indication agnostic, but Valo has invested significantly in cardiometabolic disease as one of its focus areas, Alexander said. When Valo was preparing to go public in a SPAC merger in 2021 (Opens in a new window), the company said it had 17 programs that spanned cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Valo is not currently disclosing pipeline details. All Alexander would say is that Valo is exploring additional therapeutic area opportunities where the company can leverage Opal and make a significant impact on human health. However, OPL-0401, a diabetic retinopathy drug candidate that was one of its most advanced programs, did not meet primary or secondary endpoints, Valo disclosed (Opens in a new window) on New Year’s Eve. That in-licensed molecule was not produced by Opal. The company said it would suspend the program’s development and focus on leveraging Opal to develop new medicines. That effort includes medicines covered by the expanded Novo Nordisk pact.
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“Our experience with the Novo Nordisk partnership to date has demonstrated clear evidence of both the platform’s technological capabilities as well as the human-centric approach to data and ways of working internally and with partners to deliver on new medicines in CVM (cardiovascular metabolism), but not limited to CVM,” Alexander said. “This expansion into obesity and type 2 diabetes is validating of that experience.”
Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Scanpix Denmark/AFP, via Getty Images