Novo Nordisk is working with Replicate BioScience to find new drugs for diabetes and obesity.

  Replicate Bioscience, a privately held biotech company, said on Thursday that it will work with Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) to create solution...

 

Replicate Bioscience, a privately held biotech company, said on Thursday that it will work with Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) to create solutions for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other heart and metabolic diseases that use self-replicating RNA technology.

As part of the deal, Novo, a Danish drug company, will be the only company in the world that can use Replicate's unique srRNA platform to create treatments.

Replicate will get research money and possibly milestone payouts worth up to $550 million from Novo Nordisk. It can also get tiered profits from sales of future products.

People are worried that Novo will lose its first-mover edge in the market for obesity drugs to American rival Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab.

Novo also said earlier this month that it expects more knockoff versions of its popular obesity drug Wegovy to come out this year.

"Enabling patients' cells to naturally generate their own therapeutic proteins," said Rachael Lester, chief business officer of San Diego-based Replicate.

According to the company, the technology makes immune responses stronger and is safer than standard RNA drugs.

Some of the other experimental treatments that Replicate is trying are a rabies vaccine and treatments for lung and breast cancer.

Eli Lilly and the Swiss biotech company Haya Therapeutics worked together last year to make RNA-based drugs for obesity.