February 25, 2026 – Bagsværd, Denmark & Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Novo Nordisk and Vivtex Corporation have announced a strategic partnership to develop next-generation oral biologic medicines targeting obesity, diabetes, and related metabolic disorders, marking a major advancement in peptide drug delivery innovation. The collaboration combines Novo Nordisk’s global leadership in metabolic disease therapeutics with Vivtex’s proprietary oral drug-delivery platform designed to improve gastrointestinal absorption of peptide and protein medicines. Under the agreement, Vivtex will license select technologies to Novo Nordisk, which will lead global development, regulatory activities, manufacturing, and commercialization of resulting therapies. Vivtex is eligible to receive up to $2.1 billion in milestone payments, along with research funding and tiered royalties on future product sales, reflecting the strategic scale and long-term commercial potential of the alliance.
Advancing Oral Biologic Drug Delivery
A central objective of the collaboration is to overcome one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most persistent challenges — enabling oral delivery of biologic medicines traditionally limited to injectable administration. Peptide and protein therapeutics often face degradation and poor absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, restricting patient convenience and adherence.
Vivtex’s platform integrates high-throughput gastrointestinal screening assays, AI-enabled computational modeling, and formulation optimization technologies to identify oral delivery solutions capable of achieving consistent human bioavailability. The company’s GI-ORIS™ system — a “GI tract on a chip” robotic interface — enables rapid evaluation of thousands of formulations, supporting predictive absorption modeling and improved in-human performance outcomes.
By combining this delivery innovation with Novo Nordisk’s deep expertise in protein engineering and peptide therapeutics, the partnership aims to unlock scalable oral treatments that could transform chronic metabolic disease management.
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Strategic Expansion in Metabolic Therapeutics
Novo Nordisk has been a pioneer in metabolic drug innovation, including development of the world’s first oral biologic therapies for diabetes and obesity. Through this partnership, the company seeks to expand its oral drug portfolio and reach millions more patients living with chronic metabolic conditions.
Vivtex’s technology will initially be applied to peptide drug candidates targeting obesity and Type 2 diabetes, with potential expansion into associated comorbidities such as cardiovascular and metabolic complications. Following successful formulation identification, Novo Nordisk will assume responsibility for clinical development, regulatory filings, manufacturing scale-up, and global commercialization.
Leadership from both organizations emphasized that enabling biologics to be administered orally represents a transformative shift in therapeutic accessibility, potentially improving patient adherence, reducing injection burden, and expanding preventive treatment uptake worldwide.
Innovation Platform Driving Future Pipeline Growth
The collaboration also expands Vivtex’s platform into large-scale metabolic disease applications. The biotechnology company’s robotics-driven discovery infrastructure integrates tissue modeling, AI analytics, and computational pharmacokinetics to design optimized oral therapeutics with predictable clinical performance.
For Novo Nordisk, the alliance reinforces its long-term strategy of combining internal peptide engineering capabilities with external technology innovation to accelerate next-generation drug development. With obesity and diabetes affecting hundreds of millions globally, scalable oral biologics represent a high-impact advancement in chronic disease therapeutics. The partnership underscores growing industry momentum toward patient-friendly biologic delivery technologies capable of transforming treatment paradigms in metabolic medicine.
Source: Novo Nordisk, Vivtex press release
