Novo Nordisk has entered into a partnership with Vivtex worth up to $2.1 billion to expand oral delivery technologies for biologic therapies targeting metabolic disease. The agreement follows Novo’s launch of its Wegovy (semaglutide) pill at the beginning of the year.
Under the terms announced, Vivtex will receive upfront payments, research funding, and milestone-based compensation that together could total as much as $2.1 billion. The companies did not disclose a detailed breakdown of the individual payment components. Vivtex will also be eligible to receive tiered royalties tied to product sales.
Through the collaboration, Novo will gain access to Vivtex’s proprietary drug delivery technologies designed to enable oral administration of biologics, including proteins and peptides that have historically required injection. Novo will also be able to use Vivtex’s screening platform to assess how therapies are absorbed across different regions of the gastrointestinal tract.
Vivtex will lead early-stage research and formulation work for new oral biologic candidates. After that phase is completed, Novo may select programs to advance and will assume responsibility for subsequent development, regulatory activities, manufacturing, and commercialization, according to a Feb. 25 release.
“Novo Nordisk has been at the forefront of innovation in protein and peptide engineering for several decades, and not least within oral formulation of peptides,” Brian Vandahl, Ph.D., senior vice president of therapeutic discovery at Novo, said in the release.
The partnership comes as Novo continues to develop its obesity and diabetes portfolio. The company introduced a GLP-1 pill formulation of Wegovy in early January, reaching nearly 3,100 patients during its first week on pharmacy shelves. By the second week, prescriptions had increased to around 20,000, according to analysts cited in reports. Novo secured U.S. authorization for the pill formulation late last year.
Over the past year, Novo has faced a series of developments affecting the company. Longtime chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen departed last summer. His successor, Maziar Mike Doustdar, implemented a restructuring that resulted in approximately 9,000 job reductions. More recently, Novo reported results from a phase 3 head-to-head study in which its next-generation obesity candidate CagriSema did not outperform Eli Lilly’s Zepbound (tirzepatide). Patients treated with CagriSema achieved an average weight reduction of 23% at 84 weeks, compared with 25.5% for Zepbound.
Vivtex was formed based on research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by scientists including Robert Langer, Giovanni Traverso, Ph.D., and Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., who now serves as chief executive officer. The company has developed a high-throughput screening platform described as a model of the gastrointestinal tract, capable of identifying where potential therapies are absorbed. According to von Erlach, the system recreates structural features of the GI tract and can detect uptake regardless of where it occurs.
Vivtex formulates delivery designs using established components and is currently focused on partnerships. Its most advanced partnered program is an oral drug candidate in phase 1 development with an undisclosed collaborator. The company’s collaborators include Astellas Pharma, Equillium, and Orbis Medicines. Earlier programs were focused on autoimmune disease, while the Novo agreement expands into metabolic disease.
Separately, Novo entered a March 2025 agreement with China’s United Laboratories covering a triple agonist targeting GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon receptors. An early readout showed nearly 20% weight loss after 24 weeks.
The Vivtex agreement provides Novo with access to oral biologic delivery technologies as it continues development efforts in obesity and diabetes.
What the Vivtex Deal Means for Oral Biologics
The collaboration is targeted at overcoming oral absorption barriers for biologic drugs traditionally limited to injections, enabling a new generation of metabolic medicines.
How Vivtex’s Technology Plays a Role
Vivtex’s proprietary gastrointestinal screening and formulation platform uses high-throughput techniques and AI to optimize oral drug delivery, potentially expanding treatment options for obesity and diabetes.
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