Novo Nordisk and Gensaic Collaborate on Tissue-Targeted Therapies for Cardiometabolic Diseases

Gensaic has announced a collaboration with Novo Nordisk to develop targeted therapies for cardiometabolic diseases, utilizing its ligand discovery platform. Under the agreement, Gensaic is eligible to receive up to $354 million per target in upfront, development, and milestone payments, along with tiered royalties. Novo Nordisk will also reimburse R&D costs, participate in a future financing round, and have a non-voting observer seat on Gensaic’s board.

Tissue-targeted drug delivery, which allows therapeutic molecules to be directed to specific cells or organs, is considered a key challenge in precision medicine. While liver-targeted approaches are well established, expanding beyond the liver remains difficult due to the complexity of biological transport mechanisms. 

Gensaic states that its FORGE platform (Functional Optimization by Recursive Genetic Evolution) addresses this challenge by combining unbiased protein evolution with machine-guided design. According to the company, FORGE is designed to map and leverage the network of protein interactions that determine where molecules travel in the body, with the goal of identifying ligands that enable intracellular delivery of therapeutic payloads such as siRNA and peptides.

Gensaic reports that this approach allows for a broad, unbiased search for new tissue-targeting ligands. By integrating phage display, a high-throughput method for screening protein interactions, with generative AI, the company states that its platform refines ligand structures to optimize their ability to selectively guide drug molecules to specific tissues or cell types.

Under the collaboration, Gensaic will focus on discovering ligands with tissue-selective properties, while Novo Nordisk retains rights for further development. 

The partnership aligns with Novo Nordisk’s broader interest in advancing drug delivery strategies for cardiometabolic diseases, as seen in its recent collaborations with Valo Health, leveraging AI and human datasets to develop up to 20 drug programs for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases; Neomorph with molecular glue degraders; Cellarity and Omega Therapeutics.

Topics: Novel Therapeutics