Client Novo Nordisk Signs Collaboration to Develop New Obesity Drugs

Ropes & Gray advised Novo Nordisk in a research collaboration agreement with Flagship Pioneering and Metaphore Biotechnologies, a company designing drugs by combining machine learning and molecular mimicry, to develop up to two next-generation therapeutics for the treatment of obesity. The transaction was announced on May 9.

Under the agreement, Novo Nordisk may pay up to $600 million in upfront development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales of licensed products to be shared between Metaphore and Pioneering Medicines. Novo Nordisk will also reimburse research and development costs and participate in a future financing round for Metaphore.

The collaboration will leverage Metaphore’s platform to design multitarget therapeutics targeting the GLP-1 receptor and related biology, to create long-acting therapeutics that require infrequent dosing to address multiple obesity related targets.

The collaboration is signed under the strategic partnership between Novo Nordisk and Flagship Pioneering to develop a portfolio of novel treatments for cardiometabolic and rare diseases. Pioneering Medicines in-house drug development unit Flagship is responsible for leading the broader partnership together with Novo Nordisk’s Bio Innovation Hub. Metaphore will work jointly with Pioneering Medicines and Novo Nordisk to advance the programs through foundational activities and preclinical development. Novo Nordisk could advance the programs into clinical studies.

The Ropes & Gray team was led by life sciences licensing partner Hannah England and life sciences licensing associate Dan Freshman.