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| Novo Nordisk Chief Science Officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen |
In the midst of its first major foray into treating obesity, Novo Nordisk ($NVO) is liking what it sees in the space, and now the Danish giant plans to hire hundreds of researchers in a gambit to develop new treatments for the global scourge.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Novo Chief Science Officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said the company is looking into making obesity a full-fledged business unit, using Saxenda, its first weight-loss candidate, as a springboard into building a portfolio of treatments. That would mean hiring upward of 500 researchers, Thomsen said, adding that Novo's existing Seattle facility would make a nice home for its new obesity wing.
In the short term, the diabetes magnate is already recruiting key opinion leaders in obesity, he said, seeking out partnerships with eminent academics and institutional innovators.
Meanwhile, Novo is expecting to win FDA approval next month for the injectable Saxenda, a higher dose of its blockbuster diabetes treatment Victoza (liraglutide) that the company hopes can pry open the market for weight-loss drugs and generate $1 billion a year from its new indication.
However, despite Novo's optimism about the demand for obesity treatments, recent history suggests it'll be an uphill battle. Two years ago, both Arena ($ARNA) and Vivus ($VVUS) won FDA nods for new obesity pills with with blockbuster hopes, but safety concerns and payer disinterest led to disappointing launches, and both companies have struggled to gain any market traction. Just last week, Orexigen ($OREX) picked up FDA approval for Contrave, its long-delayed weight-loss treatment, but investors worry that the drug's daunting list of potential side effects will doom it to the same fate.
But, looking at that landscape, Novo sees plenty of room for innovation, Thomsen told Bloomberg. As obesity is increasingly being treated like a disease, the industry is approaching it much the same way as diabetes, something the company and its $2 billion R&D operation know a thing or two about, he said.
"Being pioneers in this therapeutic area is logical for Novo Nordisk," Thomsen said. "We are used to chronic diseases."
Beyond its implications on drug development, Novo's possible Seattle splash would have a huge impact on a suddenly in-flux biotech ecosystem. In July, Amgen ($AMGN) unveiled plans to shut down its operations in the city and its suburbs, shuttering a 750,000-square-foot research campus and axing 660 local jobs by 2015.
Novo's grand designs on diabetes come just on the heels of major setback in anti-inflammatory R&D that has led the company to abandon its work in that space. After its top prospect failed in a midstage study in rheumatoid arthritis, Novo decided to pull the plug on its whole inflammation pipeline earlier this month, affecting about 400 staffers.
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