Metaphore Biotechnologies joined Flagship Pioneering in announcing a research collaboration with Novo Nordisk to develop up to two next-generation therapeutics for obesity management. The collaboration is signed under the broader strategic partnership between Novo Nordisk and Flagship Pioneering to develop a portfolio of novel treatment approaches for cardiometabolic and rare diseases. Pioneering Medicines, Flagship's in-house drug development and partnerships unit, is responsible for leading the broader partnership together with Novo Nordisk's Bio Innovation Hub, an R&D unit designed to accelerate the development of therapeutics via co-creation partnerships.

Metaphore will work jointly with Pioneering Medicines and Novo Nordisk to advance the programs through foundational activities and preclinical development, after which point Novo Nordisk could advance the programs into clinical studies. Obesity presents a serious disease burden, with more than 800 million adults living with obesity globally, and opportunities remain to address the disease with new and potentially highly efficacious and durable medicines. The MIMIC platform aims to provide a unique therapeutic design solution focused on pharmacophores, the essential set of features where a drug and its target interact.

The platform intends to systematically isolate a pharmacophore with single amino acid resolution, design a molecular mimic, and then optimize the molecule with fine-tuned therapeutic properties, including function, specificity, selectivity, and multi-targeting. The collaboration announced will leverage Metaphore's MIMIC platform with the goal to design multitarget therapeutics targeting the GLP-1 receptor and related biology, with the aim to create scalable, long-acting agents that will require infrequent dosing. Under the terms of the agreement, Novo Nordisk may pay up to $600 million in upfront, development, and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on annual net sales of licensed products, to be shared between Metaphore and Pioneering Medicines.

Novo Nordisk will also reimburse R&D costs and participate in a future financing round for Metaphore.