Novo Nordisk and Flagship Pioneering have announced that they will work together to create a portfolio of novel research programmes for the development of transformational medicines.
Using Flagship’s innovative bioplatforms from a portfolio of 41 companies, the partnership will address scientific challenges within rare and cardio-metabolic diseases by creating research programmes to specifically target these areas.
By providing limitless access to innovation and through leveraging multiple technology platforms, the companies aim to adopt a fresh approach to collaboration in order to develop a portfolio of medicines covering various disease areas.
Novo Nordisk will fund the research programmes and will retain an exclusive ability to license each programme. The goal is to start between three and five research programmes within the first three years of the collaboration.
Sharing his thoughts on the new partnership, Professor Marcus Schindler, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Novo Nordisk, said: “We are excited about this new agreement which will give Novo Nordisk access to Flagship’s large and diverse portfolio of companies, representing a wide variety of novel cutting-edge technologies and therapeutic modalities.
“This is a new and innovative way of collaborating, which combines the strength of Flagship’s bioplatforms with Novo Nordisk’s cardio-metabolic and rare disease expertise.”
As part of the strategic collaboration, Flagship’s Pioneering Medicines and the Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub will work together to choose the product concepts with the most potential, which will then move forward as research programmes.
Paul Biondi, president, Pioneering Medicines and executive partner, Flagship Pioneering, said: “We enter into this collaboration with Novo Nordisk with a shared vision of creating transformational medicines in disease areas where there continue to be significant needs.”
The Novo Nordisk Bio Innovation Hub is comprised of a cross-functional R&D team within Novo Nordisk, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Hub is working to establish a portfolio of co-created breakthrough therapeutic ideas, technologies and delivery projects.