Novo Nordisk licenses Vivtex’s oral biologic platform for obesity/diabetes drugs (up to $2.1B value); aims to enable pill-based peptides previously limited to injections. First oral GLP-1 success paves way for next-gen metabolic therapies.
Written By: Samiksha Jadhav BPharm
Reviewed By: Pharmacally Editorial Team
In a major step toward transforming treatments for obesity and diabetes, Novo Nordisk, a global leader in metabolic therapies, has announced a strategic partnership with Vivtex Corporation. The collaboration, revealed today, focuses on developing next-generation oral biologic medicines proteins and peptides delivered via pill rather than injection for obesity, diabetes, and related conditions like cardiovascular disease.
Under the agreement, Vivtex will license its cutting-edge oral drug-delivery technologies to Novo Nordisk. In return, Vivtex stands to receive substantial financial incentives: upfront payments, research funding, milestone payments potentially totalling up to $2.1 billion, and tiered royalties on net sales of successful products. This deal underscores the high stakes and promises of oral biologics, which could dramatically improve patient adherence by eliminating needles.
Novo Nordisk brings decades of expertise in protein and peptide engineering to the table. The company pioneered the field with Rybelsus (semaglutide), the world’s first oral GLP-1 receptor agonist for diabetes, launched over five years ago, followed by the first oral biologic for obesity, Wegovy.
“We continue to push the boundaries of science through both internal and external innovation to fulfil our mission of treating millions more people living with obesity and diabetes,” said Brian Vandahl, Senior Vice President of Therapeutics Discovery at Novo Nordisk.
Vivtex, a biotech specializing in gastrointestinal drug delivery, complements this with its proprietary platform. This integrates high-throughput screening assays that mimic the human gut, advanced formulation technologies, computational simulations, and AI-driven analytics. The collaboration aims to address the key challenge of biologics limited oral absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, which often requires injectable delivery.
“Making biologics oral has been one of the most difficult challenges in drug delivery,” said Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Vivtex. “Partnering with Novo Nordisk allows us to apply our platform across important metabolic disease areas.”
Once promising candidates are identified and formulated, Novo Nordisk will take the leads on global development, clinical trials, regulatory approvals (e.g., FDA, EMA), manufacturing, and commercialization. This division leverages Novo Nordisk’s scale proven with blockbuster drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy; while Vivtex focuses on its core strength in early-stage optimization for high bioavailability and reliable human performance.
Clinical Significance
Oral biologics represent a holy grail in drug development. Unlike small-molecule pills, large-molecule biologics struggle with GI breakdown, but success here could expand access to therapies for the 1 billion+ people worldwide affected by obesity and diabetes.
Novo Nordisk’s pipeline already dominates injectables, but orals could capture even larger markets by simplifying dosing. For Vivtex, a smaller player, this validates its AI-enhanced platform amid a surge in oral delivery investments.
The partnership arrives amid regulatory momentum: recent FDA nods for oral semaglutide highlight feasibility.
With total value up to $2.1 billion, it signals confidence in scaling these technologies for comorbidities like heart disease and NASH.
Reference
Novo Nordisk and Vivtex partner to develop next-generation oral medicines for obesity and diabetes, 25 February 2026, News Details
Novo Nordisk and Vivtex partner to develop next-generation oral medicines for obesity and diabetes,25 Feb 2026, https://vivtex.com/news/novo.pdf
About Writer
Samiksha Jadhav I BPharma
She is a pharmacy graduate with a keen interest in clinical research, pharmacovigilance, and medical writing, with a growing focus on publication and scientific content development. In her words, she is passionate about translating complex medical data into clear, evidence-based communication