Danish pharma giant Novo Nordisk (NVO.US) and artificial intelligence biotech company Valo Health announced on Wednesday to expand their collaboration, aiming to accelerate the development of new therapies for heart metabolic diseases. Under the latest agreement, the two sides will jointly advance 20 new drug projects covering cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, with Valo potentially receiving milestone payments totaling about $4.6 billion and other development funding and royalties.
The initial agreement reached in 2023 focused on the cardiovascular disease field, with Novo Nordisk and Valo agreeing to jointly advance up to 11 drug projects. At that time, Valo had the right to receive up to $2.7 billion in milestone payments. The revised agreement significantly expanded the collaboration scope, adding nine new projects focused on obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, among others.
As part of the agreement, Valo will also receive $190 million in total funding from Novo Nordisk, including upfront payments, equity investments, and potential near-term milestone payments.
Novo Nordisk's scientific head Marcus Schindler expressed his high satisfaction with the progress of the collaboration in its first year and emphasized the expectation of expanding the collaboration scope and focusing on more disease areas.