Ascendis Pharma has granted Novo Nordisk an exclusive worldwide license to the TransCon technology platform to develop, manufacture and commercialize Novo Nordisk products in metabolic diseases (including obesity and type 2 diabetes) and a product-by-product exclusive license in cardiovascular diseases. 
 
The closing of this transaction, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected before the end of 2024.
 
The agreement includes provisions requiring certain TransCon technology-based products to be identified and advanced in metabolic diseases to maintain exclusivity in the field and additional provisions for cardiovascular diseases. Under the agreement, Novo Nordisk also receives exclusive rights to expand any resulting metabolic disease products into other therapeutic areas. The lead program in the collaboration is a once-monthly GLP-1 receptor agonist product candidate that will initially target obesity and type 2 diabetes.
 
Ascendis will be eligible to receive payments of up to $285 million upfront, and development, and regulatory milestone payments for the lead program, as well as sales-based milestones and royalties on global sales. For each additional metabolic or cardiovascular disease product candidate, Ascendis will be eligible to receive payments of up to $77.5 million in development and regulatory milestone payments, plus sales-based milestone payments and royalties on global sales.
 
Ascendis will conduct early development of TransCon product candidates under the collaboration. Novo Nordisk will be responsible for these early development costs and for clinical development, regulatory, commercial manufacturing, and commercialization.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Novo Nordisk, an established expert in metabolic diseases, to maximize the potential of TransCon products for helping patients,” said Jan Mikkelsen, Ascendis Pharma’s President and Chief Executive Officer. 
 
“Developing potential therapies that can be administered less frequently could benefit societies as well as individual patients, and it is a clear focus area for Novo Nordisk,” said Brian Vandahl, Senior Vice President of Global Research Technologies at Novo Nordisk. “We look forward to working with Ascendis to explore the potential of the TransCon technology platform to reduce the dosing frequency of GLP-1 receptor agonists and other treatments for cardiometabolic diseases.”