Novo Nordisk and Deep Apple Therapeutics Inc. have entered a research collaboration and exclusive license agreement to discover, develop, and commercialize oral small molecule therapeutics directed at a novel non-incretin GPCR target for cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity.

Under the terms of the agreement, Deep Apple will discover and optimize compounds using its proprietary drug discovery platform, which combines machine-learning-powered virtual screening with structural biology enabled by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to improve speed, quality, and novelty in lead generation and optimization.

Novo Nordisk will receive exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize the resulting compounds and products in all indications. Both companies will collaborate on the research plan, with program handoff to Novo Nordisk occurring immediately prior to the start of IND-enabling studies.

Deep Apple is eligible to receive an upfront payment, research costs, and milestone payments from Novo Nordisk. In total, Deep Apple will be eligible to receive up to $812 million in payments, as well as potential royalties on sales of any products that emerge from the collaboration.

“Novo Nordisk is a long-established global leader in delivering transformative treatments for cardiometabolic diseases, and the Deep Apple team is energized by the opportunity to collaborate with them,” said Spiros Liras, Ph.D., CEO of Deep Apple and a venture partner at Apple Tree Partners (ATP). “This program highlights our platform capabilities in identifying potent, novel leads within months, and the partnership with Novo Nordisk will enable us to advance a first-in-class non-incretin program for cardiometabolic diseases.”

“Novo Nordisk is developing a range of potential oral medicines for cardiometabolic diseases across modalities and targets, as we know that people living with these diseases have different needs and preferences,” said Jacob Sten Petersen, Senior Vice President, Diabetes, Obesity and MASH therapeutic area at Novo Nordisk. “We look forward to exploring this novel target further based on Deep Apple’s AI-powered platform and expertise in small molecule drug discovery.”

More Novo Nordisk News

In May, Novo Nordisk and Septerna Inc. entered an exclusive global collaboration and license agreement to discover, develop and commercialize oral small molecule medicines for obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases.