Novo Nordisk is doubling down on the obesity market, signing a deal worth up to $2.1 billion with Boston-based biotech Vivtex to develop next-generation oral weight-loss therapies, just days after its experimental drug CagriSema fell short against Eli Lilly’s Zepbound in a closely watched trial.
Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Novo will provide research funding and milestone payments that could total $2.1 billion. While upfront financial terms were not disclosed, Vivtex will also be eligible for tiered royalties on future product sales.
The partnership follows disappointing results from a late-stage head-to-head study initiated by Novo, in which CagriSema was directly compared with Lilly’s Zepbound. Data released Monday showed patients treated with CagriSema lost an average of 23% of their body weight after 84 weeks, compared with 25.5% for Zepbound.
Despite the setback, Novo is reinforcing its commitment to obesity therapeutics by investing in new delivery technologies. Through the Vivtex collaboration, Novo gains access to the biotech’s proprietary GI-ORIS high-throughput screening platform—described as a “GI tract on a chip”—and drug-delivery technologies designed to enable oral administration of biologic therapies that are typically limited to injectable formats.
Vivtex will lead early-stage research and formulation efforts. Novo will then have the option to select specific programs to advance, assuming responsibility for later-stage development, regulatory filings, manufacturing and commercialization.
The agreement intensifies Novo’s competition with Lilly in the growing market for oral obesity treatments. Novo secured a regulatory advantage late last year when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a pill formulation of Wegovy. The product quickly gained traction, reaching nearly 3,100 patients in its first week on pharmacy shelves.
However, being first to market has not guaranteed long-term dominance. Novo’s Ozempic (semaglutide), approved in 2017, helped usher in the current wave of GLP-1–based therapies. Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide), approved in 2022, entered the market five years later. Both drugs subsequently won approvals for weight loss under the brand names Wegovy and Zepbound, respectively. Despite Novo’s earlier launch, Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise has since surpassed Novo’s semaglutide portfolio in sales.
Beyond commercial performance, clinical data have frequently favored Lilly’s products, with multiple studies showing greater weight reduction and improved glucose control with tirzepatide-based therapies.
Still, Novo has signaled it remains committed to expanding its metabolic disease pipeline. Although the company lost a bidding war for obesity-focused startup Metsera, executives have emphasized continued dealmaking ambitions. In January, Tamara Darsow, senior vice president of global business development, said Novo is actively pursuing new obesity and diabetes assets.
In March 2025, Novo signed a deal with China’s United Laboratories to develop a triple agonist targeting GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors. Early data released this week showed nearly 20% weight loss after 24 weeks of treatment.
Founded by MIT researchers Thomas von Erlach, Giovanni Traverso and Robert Langer, Vivtex initially focused on autoimmune disease but is now expanding into metabolic disorders through the Novo partnership. The collaboration marks another step in Novo’s broader strategy to defend and extend its leadership in the rapidly evolving obesity therapeutics market.
