Novo Nordisk to license experimental GLP-1 pill from China's Hengrui

Sept 29 — Novo Nordisk will pay $300 million upfront to Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals for ​the rights to an experimental GLP-1 pill, the Chinese drugmaker said on Tuesday.

The deal gains Novo a further potential revenue ‌stream in the booming weight loss market, which analysts expect to generate annual sales ⁠of about $100 billion in the ​next decade.

Drugmakers including Novo and rival ⁠Eli Lilly believe weight-loss pills could attract patients reluctant to ‌use injections.

Hengrui's HRS-1596 is ‌approved in China to initiate Phase-I clinical trials for ⁠weight management and type 2 diabetes.

Existing ⁠products include Novo's once-daily pill Wegovy and Eli Lilly's once-daily Foundayo, also belonging to the GLP-1 class of drugs that mimic a gut hormone to curb appetite and regulate blood sugar in patients with diabetes.

The Novo deal also makes Hengrui eligible for development, ‌regulatory and commercial-related milestone payments up to $2.3 billion, ​it told the Hong Kong stock exchange in a filing.

Novo will gain development, manufacturing and commercialisation rights to HRS-1596 outside of Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong and mainland China.

Hengrui shares in Hong Kong were up about 3% after the announcement.

In a statement Novo said HRS-1596 had potential for development as an oral drug ​administered once a week, which would "substantially reduce dosing frequency and improve ‌convenience compared with current ‌offerings."

A ⁠spokesperson for Novo told Reuters in an additional statement that it would plan global trials with the asset, but declined to provide timelines.

Novo shares have tumbled more than 70% from their record highs in the face ‌of stiff competition from ​Lilly, Reuters reported earlier this month.

(Reporting ‌by Andrew Silver in ⁠Shanghai, with ​additional reporting from Shivangi Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair and ​Clarence Fernandez)

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