STAT+: Novo Nordisk strikes deal with U.S. startup to develop oral obesity, diabetes drugs

STAT News · Feb 25, 2026 · Collected from RSS

Summary

Novo Nordisk announced it had signed a deal with Vivtex, a biotech co-founded by MIT professor Robert Langer, to develop oral obesity and diabetes drugs.

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By Jonathan Saltzman — Boston GlobeFeb. 25, 2026 The rivalry between the two pharmaceutical giants that dominate the market for weight loss medicines intensified Wednesday when one of the companies announced it’s teaming up with a Boston startup. Novo Nordisk, the century-old Danish company behind such blockbuster GLP-1 treatments as Wegovy for obesity and Ozempic for diabetes, said it has signed a deal with Vivtex, which specializes in developing oral alternatives to drugs administered by injections. The partners may develop more GLP-1s or another class of medicines. Vivtex is a spinout founded eight years ago by three MIT scientists, including the renowned inventor and Moderna co-founder Robert Langer and two of his onetime mentees, Giovanni Traverso and Thomas von Erlach. Von Erlach is the chief executive of the startup. STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have an account? Log in This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers Unlock this article — plus daily coverage and analysis of the pharma industry — by subscribing to STAT+. Already have an account? Log in View All Plans To read the rest of this story subscribe to STAT+. Subscribe

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STAT+: Novo Nordisk strikes deal with U.S. startup to develop oral obesity, diabetes drugs

Full Article

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STAT Newsabout 21 hours ago
STAT+: Novo doubles down on oral peptides
Novo slashes list prices, GSK acquires a pulmonary hypertension drug, and other biotech news

Bloomberg3 days ago
Novo Next-Generation Obesity Shot Falls Short of Lilly Rival
Novo Nordisk’s next-generation obesity shot delivered less weight loss than Eli Lilly rival blockbuster in yet another blow to the Danish company’s attempts to regain lost ground in the weight-loss market. People treated with a standard dose of Novo’s CagriSema in a trial achieved 20.2% weight loss after 84 weeks, compared with 23.6% for Lilly’s tirzepatide. Sam Fazeli of Bloomberg Intelligence joins to discuss. He also breaks down how Merck is splitting its main pharmaceutical unit in two in an effort to better highlight the parts of the business that are growing, as it stares down a patent cliff for its best-selling cancer drug Keytruda. (Source: Bloomberg)

Bloomberg3 days ago
Novo Nordisk CSO on New Obesity Shot Results and Drug Pipeline
Novo Nordisk Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange discusses the recent clinical trial results of the company's weight loss obesity shot CagriSema, which delivered less weight loss than Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide. Holst Lange also outlines Novo Nordisk's broader obesity treatment pipeline. He speaks on "Bloomberg Open Interest." (Source: Bloomberg)

STAT News3 days ago
STAT+: Novo’s next-gen obesity drug stumbles in Lilly comparison study
And other biotech news brought to you by The Readout

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Novo Nordisk Trial Flop Ripples Through Denmark’s Stock Market
Disappointing data from Novo Nordisk A/S is sending shockwaves across equities in Denmark, dragging the wider market down and underscoring how tightly the country’s fortunes are tied to the obesity-drug maker.

STAT News3 days ago
STAT+: Novo Nordisk’s next-gen obesity drug stumbles in comparison study
Novo Nordisk's next-generation obesity drug CagriSema underperformed versus Eli Lilly's Zepbound in a head-to-head study.