Novo expands diabetes partnership with Aspect Biosystems

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced today that it is expanding its partnership with Canadian biotech Aspect Biosystems to develop cell-based treatments for diabetes, building on the $2.6 billion deal the two companies struck in 2023.

Under the new agreement, the Vancouver-based bioprinting company has gained the rights to Novo's stem cell-derived islet cell and hypoimmune cell engineering technologies, giving Aspect the tools necessary to advance scalable, off-the-shelf cell therapies.

"Aspect brings tremendous expertise and capabilities in cellular medicines, and we are proud of our partnership with them to progress transformative cell therapies toward clinical development and potentially generating a functional cure for people living with diabetes, " Jacob Sten Petersen, senior vice president of Global Research at Novo Nordisk, said in a joint press release.

Novo said it will fund the research and development of these treatments while Aspect oversees development, manufacturing and commercialization. However, Novo retains certain undisclosed rights and the ability to expand its role down the line, according to the company's release.

In exchange, Novo could receive milestone payments if certain targets are hit and royalties if any of the products included under the deal make it to market. However, no specific financial terms were provided alongside the announcement.

The deal also moves some of Novo's research, development and manufacturing capabilities and expertise from the United States and Denmark into Aspect's Canada-based platform, giving Aspect broader end-to-end capabilities and access to a highly skilled workforce.

"Our partnership with Novo Nordisk combines more than a century of their global leadership in the fight against diabetes with Aspect's leadership in cell therapy and our biotech speed and agility, creating a powerful force multiplier to deliver clinical impact," Tamer Mohamed, founder and CEO of Aspect Biosystems, also said in the release.

Aspect is using its platform to develop a new class of cell therapies and functional cures for serious metabolic and hormone-related diseases, including islet cell replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes, designed to restore glucose control without chronic immune suppression.

Stem cell-derived, hypoimmune cells are designed to be allogenic cell therapies that can be manufactured on a large scale and widely distributed, unlike traditional autologous cell-based methods.

"By integrating key technologies and capabilities, we are strengthening our full-stack platform, accelerating our path to curative cell therapies, and advancing our vision to build a generational biotechnology company that delivers global impact for people living with serious diseases," Mohamed concluded.

Alivia Kaylor is a scientist and the senior site editor of Pharma Life Sciences.