Novo Nordisk acquires license to Chinese weight loss pill for up to $2.6 billion

Copenhagen. Novo Nordisk is buying the license to an experimental weight loss pill from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals for up to $2.6 billion. The active ingredient in an early development phase is seen as a future hope for the group after the bestsellers Ozempic and Wegovy.

Novo will initially pay $300 million. In return, the group receives the rights to develop, produce and market the active ingredient worldwide - with the exception of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Hengrui can also receive sales-based royalties.

The active ingredient HRS-1596 is directed against the GLP-1 and GIP receptors and should be taken once a week. It is approved for phase 1 clinical trials in China for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, Novo said.

The active ingredient could “raise the bar for convenience in this area,” said Martin Holst Lange, Novo’s chief research and development and scientific director, in a statement.

Novo executives failed to convince investors last week with their latest statements. The group had announced that it would bring more than five new blockbusters onto the market by 2030 and achieve more than $23 billion in additional sales by 2035. However, analysts criticized the lack of details. In addition, the goals largely corresponded to market expectations.

Novo and Eli Lilly continue to dominate the global weight loss drug market. At the same time, the number of competing development programs from Chinese companies has risen sharply in recent years. It is estimated that there are more than 250 drug candidates in development in China.

Many of them have already attracted the interest of large pharmaceutical companies. Last year, Novo licensed an active ingredient from United Laboratories that addresses three different metabolic signals in the body and is intended to help you lose weight. AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer and Regeneron have also announced deals on weight-loss drugs developed in China.