Two Boston-area biotech startups have secured major partnerships with global pharmaceutical companies in the intensifying race to develop the next generation of oral weight-loss drugs, as demand for GLP-1 treatments continues to surge.
Earlier this week, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced a collaboration with Vivtex, a Cambridge-based biotech firm, to create advanced oral therapies for obesity and diabetes. Under the agreement, Vivtex could earn up to $2.1 billion in royalties on future product sales.
Founded by MIT scientists, Vivtex developed a high-tech platform called a “GI tract on a chip,” which leverages robotics and AI to simulate human digestion. This system allows researchers to rapidly test thousands of drug formulations and accurately predict how they will be absorbed in the human body, surpassing the precision of traditional lab methods.
“Making biologics oral has been one of the most difficult challenges in drug delivery,” said Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Vivtex. “Partnering with Novo Nordisk allows us to apply our platform across critical metabolic disease areas.”
Since early 2024, Vivtex has also collaborated with Astellas Pharma, Orbis Medicines, Equillim, and AI Proteins to expand its pipeline of oral medicines, aiming to make treatments more convenient and effective for patients.
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly, headquartered in Indiana, has forged a partnership with Nimbus Therapeutics, a South Boston biotech company, in a deal potentially worth $1.3 billion. Nimbus employs computer modeling and AI to design novel drugs and is developing experimental treatments for cancer, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, and other conditions.
“We are excited to collaborate with Lilly on another program, combining our discovery capabilities with their metabolic disease expertise to bring a much-needed new treatment to people with obesity,” said Peter J. Tummino, Ph.D., president of Research and Development at Nimbus.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are competing to dominate the rapidly expanding GLP-1 market. In January, Novo secured FDA approval for its first oral GLP-1 weight-loss therapy for adults. To increase accessibility amid declining insurance coverage, the company is offering the starting dose of Wegovy at $149 per month.
Lilly, meanwhile, continues to lead with its injectable Zepbound for obesity and Mounjaro for diabetes, which drove a 43% revenue increase in the final months of 2025. To reach more patients without insurance coverage, Lilly recently introduced a single pen containing one month’s worth of Zepbound doses, priced from $299 per month, available through LillyDirect, the company’s online platform.
As both pharmaceutical giants invest heavily in oral treatments, the race for the next breakthrough GLP-1 therapy underscores the growing importance of accessible, convenient obesity solutions in the global health market.
