Novo has signed a license agreement with Nanexa to use the Swedish biotech’s longer-lasting drug delivery technology, as the company looks to close the gap to rivals in the cardiometabolic arena.
The global exclusive license sees Novo pay €615m ($701m) in upfront and milestone-based payments. Sales milestones bring the total deal value to a potential €1.165bn ($1.33bn). In addition, Nanexa is eligible to receive low single-digit royalties on global net sales of any products that arise from the collaboration.
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Shares in Nanexa, which is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Exchange, surged 154% at market open on 25 September following the announcement compared to its previous market close.
Nanexa’s atomic layer deposition (ALD)-based drug delivery platform, called PharmaShell, allows the controlled and sustained release of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). The technology achieves this via an ultra-thin inorganic coating applied to individual drug particles. The composition and thickness of the coating can be tailored to achieve the desired release profile. As the coating gradually dissolves, the API is released over time.
Novo is hoping the platform can help it advance long-lasting injectable formulations to close the gap on Eli Lilly, which has asserted dominance in the type 2 diabetes and obesity arenas over the past few years. The agreement with Nanexa will allow Novo to use the technology for peptide drugs in up to five development programmes spanning obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic diseases. Currently, injectables in these indications are administered weekly, with Novo harnessing Nanexa’s platform to target monthly and quarterly dosing.
In a statement, Nanexa’s CEO, David Westberg, said: “This agreement further strengthens the external validation of PharmaShell as a broadly applicable drug delivery platform, and we believe this provides a strong foundation for expanding PharmaShell into additional therapeutic areas and to selectively advance additional internal programs towards clinical proof of concept.”
The deal with Novo marks Nanexa’s second high-profile partnership with a big pharma company in the past year. In December 2025, the biotech inked a license agreement with Moderna worth up to $503m. Neither the mRNA specialist nor Nanexa disclosed which potential five compounds will be involved in the partnership.
Novo has meanwhile been busy bolstering its portfolio amid a target to launch more than five multi-blockbusters by 2030. Earlier in the month, the drugmaker partnered with Orbis Medicines in a $1.4bn deal to develop oral macrocycle therapeutics. In the same week, Novo also teamed up with Anthropic to use Claude within its R&D strategy.
