Novo buys three early-stage obesity assets from Kallyope as investor pressure mounts

 

Investors and analysts have been hounding Novo to beef up its pipeline and advance new molecules as a majority of the company’s sales stem from its semaglutide franchise.

Under pressure to shake up its business, Novo has acquired three early-stage obesity molecules from Kallyope that could go beyond the existing GLP-1s and other incretin-targeting treatments on the market.

Through the agreement with privately-held Kallyope, the Danish giant is picking up a potentially first-in-class therapeutic peptide and two small-molecule candidates, according to Jacob Petersen, head of global research at Novo, who disclosed the deal in a Sept. 18 LinkedIn post.

Petersen did not reveal the deal’s financials in his post. BioSpace has reached out to Novo and Kallyope for more details.

The lead asset under the partnership is K-554, a peptide therapy that, according to Petersen, is ready for an investigational new drug application. K-554 is designed as a weekly treatment “targeting biology that is distinct from, and likely complimentary to, therapies targeting GLP-1 and amylin receptors,” Kallyope said in a January release.

Kallyope and Novo are long-time partners. In mid-2018, the companies linked up to advance novel treatments for obesity and diabetes, though financial details of this deal were not disclosed. Novo in September 2024 exercised its option to advance one asset under this agreement.

The Danish giant has been under pressure from shareholders and analysts to acquire assets or companies, or otherwise advance new molecules to beef up its pipeline. A majority of Novo’s sales come from its semaglutide brands Ozempic and Wegovy, which despite maintaining market protections in most territories through the early 2030s, have already started facing off-patent competitors in select countries like Canada.

Novo will hold a Capital Markets Day on Monday, where company leadership will present an overview of the pharma’s strategies, pipeline and business operations.

Aside from Kallyope, Novo last week put up to $1.4 billion on the line to work with Orbis Medicines—a startup that has also received funding from Eli Lilly—to advance a novel class of drugs called macrocycles for cardiometabolic conditions.

https://www.biospace.com/deals/novo-buys-three-early-stage-obesity-assets-from-kallyope-as-investor-pressure-mounts