Novo Nordisk has entered into separate cardiometabolic research collaborations with two Flagship Pioneering bioplatform companies — Omega Therapeutics and Cellarity.
The Omega collaboration will leverage the company's proprietary platform technology to develop an epigenomic controller designed to enhance metabolic activity as a part of a potential new treatment approach for obesity management. The Cellarity collaboration aims to unravel novel biological drivers of MASH (chronic liver disease) and will leverage Cellarity’s platform to develop a small molecule therapy against the disease.
The deals are the first two programs to emerge from a framework collaboration between Flagship Pioneering and Novo's R&D unit, Bio Innovation Hub, signed in May 2022. The collaboration aims to develop transformational medicines for cardiometabolic and rare diseases.
Flagship’s innovative bioplatforms are an ecosystem that is currently comprised of close to 40 companies. Back in November, one of the startups — Evelo Biosciences — announced that it that it would be closing its doors and dissolving its assets. Back in June, Eli Lilly paid $34.6 million to pick up another Flagship startup, Sigilon, focused on developing therapies for chronic disease.
