Novo Nordisk, Omega Therapeutics, Inc. and Cellarity Inc. announced that Novo Nordisk has entered into separate research collaborations with each company. The Omega collaboration will leverage its proprietary platform technology to develop an epigenomic controller designed to enhance metabolic activity as a part of a potential new treatment approach for obesity management. The Cellarity collaboration aims to unravel novel biological drivers of MASH and will leverage Cellarity’s platform to develop a small molecule therapy against this disease.
These are the first two programs signed under the framework collaboration between Flagship Pioneering and Novo Nordisk to leverage Flagship’s bioplatform companies to develop novel treatment approaches for cardiometabolic diseases.
Harnessing epigenomic control as a new treatment approach for obesity management
Globally, there are more than 800 million adults living with obesity. Many of the existing therapeutic interventions for weight management have focused on appetite regulation. Thermogenesis, the production of heat within tissues to raise body temperature, is a natural metabolic function that critically regulates overall energy balance.
By harnessing the human body’s innate mechanisms to control cellular identity and gene expression, Omega’s proprietary platform has the potential to create an epigenomic controller designed to enhance thermogenesis, and therefore metabolic activity.
Deciphering complex disease biology to develop a transformative medicine for MASH
MASH is a chronic and progressive liver disease with high unmet patient need for which there is currently no approved treatment. MASH is a leading cause of chronic liver disease that can progress to liver failure or require transplantation, and people living with MASH are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Cellarity has developed unique capabilities to link biology and chemistry with high dimensional, transcriptomic data to generate medicines against the cellular signatures of disease. Using proprietary AI models, the Cellarity platform provides novel insights into cellular dysfunction and enables the design of drugs previously inaccessible with traditional methods of drug discovery. In September 2022, Novo Nordisk engaged Cellarity to identify novel cell behaviors implicated in MASH disease progression. The research collaboration expands on this initial work and will further leverage Cellarity’s platform to develop a small molecule therapy.
First two programs under Flagship framework collaboration
The previously announced partnership brings together Novo Nordisk’s Bio Innovation Hub, an R&D unit designed to accelerate the development of therapeutics via co-creative partnerships with academia, biotechs, and venture capital groups, and Pioneering Medicines, Flagship’s drug development initiative leveraging Flagship Pioneering’s unique ecosystem of bioplatform capabilities.
Each company, Novo Nordisk and Pioneering Medicines will jointly advance these respective programs through preclinical development and conduct foundational activities, after which point Novo Nordisk could advance the programs into clinical studies. Under the terms of the respective agreements, Novo Nordisk will reimburse R&D costs. Additionally, each agreement may pay up to 532 million dollars in upfront, development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales of a licensed product, to be shared between the respective companies and Flagship’s Pioneering Medicines.
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