Gensaic, Inc., a biotechnology company that combines AI-powered protein design with biological insights to discover ligands for tissue-selective intracellular delivery, announced a license and discovery collaboration with Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company. This collaboration unites Novo Nordisk’s deep therapeutic knowledge and drug development experience with Gensaic’s novel protein design technology with the aim to discover tissue targeting ligands and develop new therapeutic candidates to treat cardiometabolic disease via undisclosed targets.
“Novo Nordisk is an established leader in the cardiometabolic space, demonstrating remarkable success in bringing breakthrough therapies to patients,” said Lavi Erisson, M.D., CEO and President of Gensaic. “Combining Gensaic’s groundbreaking FORGE™ engine with Novo Nordisk’s therapeutic and market insights creates powerful new opportunities. This collaboration reinforces the transformative potential of Gensaic’s science in addition to expediting our innovative pipeline development and supporting further enhancements in our protein modeling capabilities.”
Tissue targeting, which enables drug delivery to a specific site or group of cells in the body, is fundamental to unlocking the next generation of precision medicines. However, targeting beyond the liver remains a challenge and there is a need to discover new biological mechanisms for therapeutic delivery to selected organs or cell types. Gensaic addresses this challenge with its technology engine, Functional Optimization by Recursive Genetic Evolution (FORGE), which combines unbiased protein evolution with machine guided design to map and leverage the complex network of protein interactions that determine where molecules travel to in the body.
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“Tissue targeting has so much potential – both in terms of the modalities that can be leveraged, but also for the diseases that can be addressed,” said Uli Stilz, Head of Novo Nordisk’s Bio Innovation Hub. “Gensaic’s technology brings a novel approach, with the ability to screen tissue targeting ligands in an unbiased way. By coupling Gensaic’s technology with our team’s deep understanding of disease and drug development, we have the potential to reach challenging targets, while increasing efficacy and reducing potential side effects.”
Under the agreement, Gensaic is eligible to receive up to $354 million in upfront payments, development, and commercial milestones per target plus tiered royalties. Novo Nordisk also will reimburse research and development costs, participate in a future financing round, and a Novo Nordisk executive will join Gensaic’s board as a non-voting observing member. In this collaboration, Gensaic will discover novel protein ligands, with Novo Nordisk retaining rights to leverage these for further development. The collaboration includes Novo Nordisk’s license and option right to advance multiple therapeutic programs through research, development, and commercialization.
Source: BusinessWire