The two companies have announced a research and development collaboration to discover and develop gene editing therapies against a select set of therapeutic targets.

With a focus on advancing base editing capabilities, Novo Nordisk will leverage Life Edit’s suite of gene editing technologies to precisely edit the genome with the aim of developing life-changing therapies for rare genetic disorders as well as more prevalent cardiometabolic diseases, the company states.

“At Novo Nordisk, we are committed to continuously building and leveraging technology platforms that open up new opportunities across our therapeutic areas to deliver potentially curative treatment options to people living with serious chronic diseases,” says Marcus Schindler, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Novo Nordisk. “We are excited about the opportunity to co-create novel treatments for multiple genetic diseases based on Life Edit’s gene editing technologies.”

Development of up to seven programmes

The collaboration between the two companies allows for development of up to seven programmes. Under the agreement, Life Edit will receive an upfront cash payment and is eligible to receive potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones of 335 million US dollars for each of the first two development programmes under the collaboration and up to 250 million dollars for each of the following five development programmes under the collaboration. Novo Nordisk will be responsible for all research and development costs and Life Edit is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on future net sales of therapeutic products. In addition, Life Edit has an option to a global profit share on one programme.

Under the agreement, Life Edit will receive an upfront cash payment and is eligible to receive potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones of 335 million US dollars for each of the first two development programmes under the collaboration and up to 250 million dollars for each of the following five development programmes under the collaboration.

Moreover, Novo Nordisk will make an equity investment in ElevateBio, Life Edit’s parent company, as part of ElevateBio’s 401 million US dollars Series D financing.

Life Edit is part of ElevateBio’s integrated ecosystem of R&D platform technologies and end-to-end process development and cGMP manufacturing capabilities built to power the creation of life-transforming cell and gene therapies.

Photo of Marcus Schindler: Novo Nordisk