Novo Nordisk Continues Pursuit Of Obesity-Targeted Companies: Second Acquisition Within A Month

Novo Nordisk A/S NVO continues to bolster its obesity portfolio. In the latest move, the Danish pharma giant has acquired Embark Biotech.

Novo Nordisk will pay upfront of €15 million, and Embark Biotech is eligible to receive potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones of up to €456 million.

All the biotech's employees will transfer to a new group, Embark Laboratories, to "continue their work and scientific journey." 

The new company is focused on cardiometabolic disease and has formed a three-year obesity R&D collaboration with Novo Nordisk.

The remarkable clinical achievements and growing market traction of GLP-1 medications created by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly And Co LLY in the realms of diabetes and obesity have propelled weight loss into a paramount domain within the pharmaceutical industry.

Earlier this month, Novo Nordisk agreed to buy Canada's Inversago Pharma, a metabolic disorders specialist focusing on developing peripherally acting CB1 receptor blocker therapies, for up to $1.075 billion.

Last month, Eli Lilly inked a deal worth $1.9 billion to buy Versanis Bio, bolstering its product profile of obesity-curbing drugs.

The biotech spun out of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research at the University of Copenhagen in 2017, was incubated at Novo Seeds, and announced a research collaboration with Novo Nordisk in 2018.

Price action: NVO shares are down 0.40% at $189.60 on the last check Wednesday.