Ventus Therapeutics Enters Exclusive Development and License Agreement with Novo Nordisk for NLRP3 Inhibitor Program
Friday, September 30, 2022
Ventus Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company utilizing structural biology and a proprietary computational chemistry platform, announced today that it has entered into an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Novo Nordisk A/S. The agreement aims to develop and commercialize candidates from Ventus' portfolio of peripherally-restricted NLRP3 inhibitors, small molecule therapeutics that target a wide range of diseases.
Marcelo Bigal, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO of Ventus, expressed the significance of the collaboration, stating, "This partnership is crucial for Ventus as it validates our capabilities in structural biology to discover and develop highly innovative molecules with unique chemical structures. We believe that Novo Nordisk is the ideal partner to advance our lead NLRP3 program across various systemic disease areas, leveraging their extensive expertise in cardiometabolic diseases."
According to the terms of the agreement, Novo Nordisk will provide an upfront payment of $70 million in cash to Ventus, along with research and development funding. Ventus will also be eligible for additional milestone payments of up to $633 million, based on clinical, regulatory, and commercial achievements, in addition to tiered royalties.
In return, Novo Nordisk will gain exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize Ventus' leading NLRP3 inhibitor program, which targets a broad range of diseases such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), chronic kidney disease, and other cardiometabolic conditions.
Ventus, on the other hand, retains the right to develop NLRP3 inhibitors for certain systemic diseases, including specific inflammatory and respiratory conditions. Furthermore, Ventus retains worldwide rights to its unique brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor program.
Karin Conde-Knape, Senior Vice President of Global Drug Discovery at Novo Nordisk, emphasized the significant potential of NLRP3 as a biologically relevant target in liver, kidney, and cardiometabolic diseases. Conde-Knape also praised Ventus for developing a highly differentiated NLRP3 inhibitor program with outstanding pre-clinical results. The collaboration between Novo Nordisk and Ventus aims to advance this program and provide substantial clinical benefits to patients across a broad range of diseases.
