Novo to buy experimental heart drug for up to US$1.3 billion

NOVO Nordisk has agreed to buy an experimental blood-pressure medicine from KBP Biosciences for as much as US$1.3 billion, extending a string of recent deals to bolster its drug pipeline. 

The treatment, called ocedurenone, is currently in late-stage testing for people with uncontrolled hypertension and advanced, chronic kidney disease, the Danish drugmaker said on Monday (Oct 16). If successful, it could help address a major need for people with both heart disease and chronic kidney disease, according Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president of development at Novo. 

The deal is the latest in a series of bolt-on acquisitions for the Danish maker of blockbuster obesity treatment Wegovy. Novo on Friday lifted its forecast for sales and profit on soaring demand for Wegovy and a sister treatment, the diabetes medicine Ozempic.  

The acquisition is a follow-up to Novo’s strategy of “expanding from our core in diabetes into other serious chronic diseases,” Camilla Sylvest, executive vice president of commercial strategy and corporate affairs, said in the statement. Deal closing is expected by the end of this year. 

Novo shares were little changed in Copenhagen trading after the deal was announced. The drugmaker has soared more than 50% this year, fuelled by the success of its weight-loss franchise.

Novo said it plans more studies of ocedurenone in other types of heart and kidney disease. It’s part of a new class of pills called non-steroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, or nsMRAs, that includes Bayer’s predicted blockbuster Kerendia. 

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KBP Biosciences is closely held, with headquarters in Singapore and offices in Jinan and Shanghai. Ocedurenone is its most advanced innovative drug. BLOOMBERG