The Novo Nordisk and Neomorph deal is worth approximately $1.46bn in upfront and milestone-based payments across multiple targets. Image Credit: JHVEPhoto / Shutterstock.

Novo Nordisk has signed a collaboration and licensing agreement with US-based biotech Neomorph to discover and develop multiple molecular glue degraders for cardiometabolic disorders and rare diseases.

The deal is worth approximately $1.46bn in upfront and milestone-based payments and covers multiple targets.

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While Neomorph will be responsible for the discovery and preclinical research, Novo will have exclusive rights to further clinical development and commercialisation. Neomorph will also be entitled to tiered royalties on sales from these candidates.

Neomorph is a venture capital-backed startup established in 2020. The company raised $109m in Series A the same year it was founded. Neomorph’s proprietary glue discovery platform aims to develop therapeutics against ‘undruggable’ targets— those without a differentiated protein binding target.

Targeted protein degraders, especially molecular glue, have been a growing area of interest in recent years. Most of these therapies are developed as treatments for cancers. According to GlobalData’s Pharma Intelligence drug database, more than 200 therapies that are tagged under molecular glue drugs are currently in development.

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Several top pharmaceutical companies have invested in developing protein degrader therapies in recent years. In December 2023, MSD signed a collaboration and licensing agreement potentially worth $2.5bn with C4 Therapeutics to develop degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), designed to selectively target and neutralise disease-causing proteins in cancer cells.

In September 2023, Seagen partnered with Nurix Therapeutics to develop DACs for cancer treatment. Seagen and its antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) technology was then acquired by Pfizer to bolster its oncology portfolio.

Apart from oncology, protein degraders are also being developed in other indications. Sanofi and Kymera Therapeutics’ protein degrader is currently in Phase II trials as a treatment of atopic dermatitis and hidradenitis suppurativa. Both trials are expected to be completed in Q1 2025. In 2022, AbbVie partnered with Plexium to develop targeted protein degrader therapies for neurological conditions.