Novo Nordisk pays $300M upfront for Hengrui's once-weekly oral GLP-1/GIP obesity candidate HRS-1596
核心洞察
Novo Nordisk will pay Hengrui Pharma $300 million upfront and up to $2.3 billion in milestones for ex-China rights to the preclinical GLP-1/GIP agonist HRS-1596 (搜索).
HRS-1596 (搜索) is designed for once-weekly oral dosing, which Novo says would substantially reduce dosing frequency and improve convenience versus current daily obesity (搜索) pills.
Chinese regulators cleared HRS-1596 (搜索) for a Phase 1 safety and pharmacokinetic trial this month, but the candidate has so far been tested only in animals.
Novo Nordisk has agreed to pay China's Hengrui Pharma $300 million (€264 million) upfront for exclusive rights outside Greater China to HRS-1596 (搜索), a preclinical GLP-1/GIP dual receptor agonist designed for once-weekly oral dosing. The Danish drugmaker could pay up to $2.3 billion (€2.0 billion) more in development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus royalties on sales outside Greater China, bringing the total deal value to as much as $2.6 billion.
Novo announced the agreement in a Sept. 29 release. The deal requires U.S. antitrust clearance, among other customary closing conditions, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
A weekly pill in a daily-pill market
Novo is paying for the prospect of a weekly obesity (搜索) pill. Its own oral Wegovy, approved in the EU in July, and Eli Lilly's Foundayo (搜索), approved in the U.K. in August, are both taken daily. Novo said weekly dosing "would substantially reduce dosing frequency and improve convenience compared with current offerings."
Weekly U.S. prescriptions reached about 184,000 for the Wegovy pill and 53,000 for Foundayo (搜索) this month, according to IQVIA data cited by Citi. Both pills launched in the U.S. first.
The dosing burden differs between the approved products. In the EU, the Wegovy pill is taken after at least eight hours of fasting, followed by a 30-minute wait before eating or drinking, while Foundayo (搜索) carries no food or water restrictions. Neither company's release says how HRS-1596 (搜索) would be taken.
HRS-1596 (搜索) is designed to activate the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, the same targets as Lilly's injectable Mounjaro. The Wegovy and Foundayo (搜索) pills activate the GLP-1 receptor (搜索) alone. According to Novo, the candidate aims to suppress appetite, stimulate insulin secretion and improve insulin sensitivity, supporting development for obesity (搜索), Type 2 diabetes (搜索) and other metabolic diseases.
Preclinical data and a Phase 1 start
HRS-1596 (搜索) has so far been tested only in animals, where Hengrui says it cut weight and improved blood-sugar measures. Hengrui has secured clearance from regulators in China to take the candidate into Phase 1 trials, a study that will test safety and how the drug behaves in the body. A Novo spokesperson told Reuters the company plans global trials but would not give a timeline.
Hengrui disclosed on Sept. 21 that cumulative R&D spending on the HRS-1596 (搜索) project stood at about 18.4 million yuan (€2.4 million), an unaudited figure.
"Novo has pioneered the field of oral peptides and as leaders, we continuously look to advance our broad and deep oral pipeline across obesity (搜索), diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases through our strong internal capabilities and leading external innovation," Novo Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange said in the release.
"Hengrui Pharma has a proven track record of discovering and advancing innovative therapies with the patients in the center, and we are excited to add HRS-1596 (搜索) to our growing pipeline and to explore its potential to raise the bar for convenience in the field," he added.
Hengrui's expanding deal flow
Hengrui has become one of the most in-demand sources of biopharma innovation in China. The company has signed multi-billion-dollar deals with Bristol Myers Squibb (搜索) and GSK for early-stage assets across respiratory, immunology, inflammation and oncology. It was also behind the portfolio of obesity (搜索) drugs that helped Kailera Therapeutics (搜索) secure its record-breaking IPO in April.
U.S.-based Kailera, which licensed ribupatide (搜索) from Hengrui in 2024, is developing a daily pill form of that asset. In Hengrui's Phase 2 trial in China, ribupatide produced mean weight loss of up to 12.1% at 26 weeks, against 2.3% on placebo. Kailera plans global Phase 3 trials in the first half of 2027.
Less frequent dosing across Europe
European drugmakers are paying for ways to dose obesity (搜索) drugs less often. On Sept. 24, Novo licensed drug-coating technology from Sweden's Nanexa (搜索) to develop monthly and quarterly injections, in a deal worth up to €1.165 billion. Italy's Menarini Group (搜索) licensed European rights to bofanglutide, a GLP-1 injection taken every two weeks, from China's Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals (搜索) earlier this month.
Weekly dosing remains unproven, and a daily GLP-1/GIP pill from Hengrui is further along in development. Eli Lilly's Zepbound is a GLP-1/GIP drug but is available only as an injection, while Viking Therapeutics has a GLP-1/GIP tablet in Phase 2 development that requires daily dosing.
Analysts cited by Reuters expect the weight-loss drug market to reach about $100 billion (€88 billion) in annual sales within a decade.