Weight Loss, Hearing Acquisitions Expand Pipelines for Novo Nordisk, Regeneron

Two large pharmaceuticals announced acquisitions designed to bolster their portfolios in biotechnology with Novo Nordisk — maker of Wegovy — acquiring Inversago Pharma, also working on a weight loss drug; and Regeneron acquiring Decibel Therapeutics, with gene therapy candidates for hearing loss.

Novo Nordisk’s acquisition includes Inversago’s lead development asset, an oral drug that has demonstrated weight loss in a phase 1b trial and has begun a phase 2 trial for diabetic kidney disease.

The purchase will cost Novo up to $1.075 billion if Inversago — a 22 employee company located in Montreal, Canada — meets certain development and commercial milestones.

Regeneron’s acquisition of Decibel follows an initial collaboration that began in 2017 — and was extended in 2021 — to “discover and develop new potential therapeutics to protect, repair, and restore hearing,” the companies said in 2017.

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