Novo Nordisk acquires Embark Biotech and its lead obesity program

Novo Nordisk has found another obesity-focused biotech to buy as it looks to build on the success of its blockbuster semaglutide franchise. And this time, it didn’t have to look far.

The Danish drugmaker is snapping up Copenhagen-based Embark Biotech for €15 million ($16.3 million) upfront and up to €456 million ($496.4 million) in milestones. That gives Novo a lead program for obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases, which hits an unnamed target that, according to the companies, “suppresses appetite, increases energy expenditure and enhances insulin sensitivity.” There’s no mention of how far along the program is.

But that’s not all: The crew at Embark Biotech will now form a new company called Embark Laboratories and enter into a three-year R&D pact to develop more therapies for obesity and related conditions. Novo Nordisk will earn the option to acquire certain assets that come out of Embark Biotech discoveries.

The deal marks the second recent move Novo Nordisk has made to beef up its cardiometabolic pipeline. Earlier this month, it struck a deal to acquire Canada’s Inversago Pharma for up to $1.075 billion, although the upfront was not disclosed.

Entities from the Novo universe played a key role in the journey of Embark, which was spun out in 2017 from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen after scientists discovered a new target. Novo Holdings provided seed support at the earliest stages, while Novo Nordisk inked an early collaboration with Embark to develop the target.

The Innovation Fund Denmark and the BioInnovation Institute offered additional funding and direction along the way.

Brian Finan

“Novo Nordisk has been engaged in obesity research for 25 years, and we continuously search for new ways to address this serious chronic disease,” Brian Finan, VP of obesity research, said in a statement. He added that the deal with Embark Laboratories will complement in-house R&D.

Novo Nordisk has found itself at the center of buzz in recent years, thanks to the major commercial success of semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist that’s marketed as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic or Rybelsus for type 2 diabetes. In the first half of 2023, its obesity and diabetes care portfolio brought in $14.6 billion.

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