April has seen a slew of executive hires, promotions and layoffs across the healthcare industry. For instance, Aledade, Humana and Zimmer Biomet named new executives. There were also layoffs at organizations including Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Novo Nordisk and UnityPoint Health.

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Novo Nordisk dropped its lawsuit against Hims & Hers and launched a new collaboration. The deal is advantageous for both companies, experts say.

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Vivtex’s technology uses AI and high throughput screening to identify the combinations of drug ingredients that can deliver peptides through gastrointestinal tissue. Besides Novo Nordisk, the MIT spinout’s partners include Astellas Pharma, Equillium, and Orbis Medicines.

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Beyond weight reduction and long-term maintenance of weight loss, the FDA decision for oral Wegovy covers use of the once-daily pill for reducing the risk of major cardiovascular events. Novo Nordisk expects the Wegovy tablet will launch in early January.

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Pfizer’s offer of up to $86.25 in cash for each share of obesity drugs developer Metsera share tops the up to $86.20 Novo Nordisk was willing to pay. The financial consideration and the greater certainly of a deal close tipped the balance in Pfizer’s favor, ending a bidding war for Metsera and its next-generation obesity medications.

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Pfizer claims Metsera breached their merger agreement, adding that a tie-up of the biotech with GLP-1 drug giant Novo Nordisk would violate U.S. antitrust law. Metsera called the arguments “nonsense” and said Pfizer is trying to buy the obesity drug developer for less than what Novo is willing to pay.

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Acquisition talks for Metsera that played out this year culminated in an agreement with Pfizer, which agreed to buy the obesity drug developer for $4.9 billion. Novo Nordisk, a finalist in that pursuit, is positioning itself as a deal spoiler with a new unsolicited offer that shells out much more upfront cash.

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Novo Nordisk is paying $240 million up front for global rights to zaltenibart, an Omeros drug that blocks the MASP-3 protein to treat diseases caused by excessive activity of the complement system. This antibody drug is on track for pivotal testing that could show superiority over blockbuster AstraZeneca drugs that are standard treatments for a rare blood disorder.

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Novo Nordisk is acquiring Akero Therapeutics for drug candidate efruxifermin, which executive say could be first and best in the emerging class of FGF21 analogs for the fatty liver disease MASH. The deal comes months after Novo’s internal FGF21 drug candidate failed a Phase 2 trial.

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While Skye Bioscience said its drug nimacimab may yet achieve better weight loss results with higher doses, the company and analysts are interested in the drug’s potential to be combined with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. Skye’s drug is an antibody designed to preferentially target CB1 receptors in the gut, offering an alternative approach to activating GLP-1 receptors.

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September has seen a wide range of executive hires, exits, promotions and layoffs across the healthcare industry. For example, Medtronic, Amgen and Kaiser Permanente welcomed new executives. There were also layoffs at organizations including Novo Nordisk and Seattle Children’s.

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Obesity and type 2 diabetes are among the cardiometabolic diseases included in Novo Nordisk’s R&D pact with Replicate Bioscience, a deal that could pay out up to $550 million. Startup Replicate specializes in therapies and vaccines based on self-replicating RNA.

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Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug Wegovy expanded its label to include the metabolic disorder known as MASH. Analysts say there’s room for many MASH drugs with the treatment landscape expected to shape up to include combinations of therapies bringing different approaches to this fatty liver disease.

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Novo Nordisk is ending its partnership with Hims & Hers due to concerns over its practices related to compounded GLP-1s.

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Eli Lilly is partnering with Camurus, a company with technology that extends how long an injectable drug lasts in the body, permitting longer dosing intervals. Lilly plans to apply the technology to its metabolic medicines; the deal follows a similar move Novo Nordisk starting an alliance with Ascendis.

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Eli Lilly reported that in addition to achieving greater reductions in weight, Zepbound-treated patients achieved greater reductions in waist circumference compared to those treated with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. Full details from the head-to-head Phase 3 test were presented at the European Congress on Obesity meeting.

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Hims & Hers is now offering discounted access to Wegovy, a GLP-1 manufactured by Novo Nordisk, on its platform.

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A federal court judge ruling leaves in place an FDA determination that shortages of the Novo Nordisk drugs Wegovy and Ozempic are resolved. Consequently, compounding pharmacies must stop making their versions of the metabolic medicines or face FDA enforcement action.

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Novo Nordisk gets global rights to Lexicon Pharmaceuticals’ LX9851, an oral small molecule with a first-in-class approach to sparking weight loss. The licensing agreement comes months after Lexicon reported encouraging preclinical data from tests of LX9851 in combination with semaglutide, the main ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.

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Novo Nordisk is licensing rights to a United Biotechnology drug that sparks metabolic effects by binding to and activating receptors for GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon. Separately, the pharma giant said its recently announced discounted price for obesity medication Wegovy is now expanding to traditional pharmacies.

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CagriSema, a dual-acting drug in development by Novo Nordisk, met the goal of a Phase 3 test in patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes. But the topline results don’t show an advantage over Eli Lilly’s commercialized obesity medication, Zepbound.

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Wegovy will ship directly to eligible patients through NovoCare, an online pharmacy established by Novo Nordisk. The product’s price matches a recent price cut for Zepbound offered by Eli Lilly through its own direct-to-patient online platform.

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Compounded GLP-1s have become more widespread, but are they safe? Some argue that compounding is nothing new, while others believe these drugs are dangerous for patients.

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Novo Nordisk’s monlunabant showed signs of neuropsychiatric side effects in a mid-stage diabetic kidney disease study, despite a drug design intended to favor hitting its target receptor in peripheral tissues rather than the brain. Neuro effects were also reported last year in a Phase 2 test of this pill in obesity.

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Novo Nordisk’s type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic has expanded its label to include chronic kidney disease. The new FDA approval comes as makers of GLP-1 drugs work to expand the uses of these products.

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Novo Nordisk’s amycretin is a single molecule designed to bind to two targets to spark weight loss — a different approach than some of the pharma giant’s other efforts to develop next-generation obesity drugs. Analysts say the lack of safety and tolerability details make it difficult to fully assess the preliminary Phase 1b/2a results.

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Thomas Senderovitz, senior vice president of data science at Novo Nordisk, challenges conventional notions about AI and the need for humans in the loop.

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Many healthcare executives are applauding the list of additional drugs chosen for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program, while some drug companies are opposing it.

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Novo Nordisk and Valo Health have collaborated on the development of cardiovascular disease drugs since 2023. Expanding the alliance to cardiometabolic diseases nearly doubles the number of programs covered under the agreement.

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Novo Nordisk’s new Denmark site will produce drugs for rare diseases, such as hemophilias. Separately, the pharma giant said all regulatory conditions have been met for Novo Holdings’ acquisition of Catalent, which will bring to Novo Nordisk three manufacturing sites for GLP-1 medications.

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