Looking to expand its legacy in metabolic conditions, Novo Nordisk has inked a multiyear research pact with Variant Bio to better understand the genetics underlying disease across diverse populations.
The Ozempic and Wegovy seller will pay up to $50 million in upfront and near-term R&D funding while also offering Variant an undisclosed amount of biobucks for therapeutic targets that result from the deal, according to a Jan. 7 release.
The pair will work together to identify new targets using Variant’s platform, dubbed VB-Inference. The tech relies on statistical genetics, artificial intelligence and machine learning to spot and validate novel targets.
The Seattle-based biotech prioritizes studying genes in underrepresented and understudied groups, such as Indigenous populations in New Zealand, per a New York Times report Tuesday.
By identifying communities with “unique genetic architectures and outlier phenotypes,” Variant has uncovered new genetic evidence that is the foundation of its internal preclinical pipeline, according to the company.
To ensure its data collection and use are ethical, Variant implemented a long-term benefit-sharing program in 2020 designed to create value for communities that have shared their genetic data with the biotech.
Consistent with the program, the new Novo partnership will trigger financial benefits delivered to partner communities across the globe, according to the release.
"Metabolic disease—including obesity—affects people all over the world, yet newer targets with genetic evidence are primarily based on studies with European-ancestry populations. As a result, there is still an unmet need in this space," Variant Chief Scientific Officer David Moller, M.D., said in the release. "We hope that a deeper understanding of the relationships between genetic variation and metabolic traits will yield novel targets and ultimately lead to better and more diverse treatment options for people around the globe."
The multiyear collaboration is Variant’s first publicly announced partnership with a Big Pharma company. The biotech emerged in 2018 and raised a $105 million series B in 2021.
"Having conducted over two dozen genomic research projects with diverse populations around the world, Variant Bio is well positioned to carry out genomic research on metabolic disease in places that have not yet been fully studied,” Bei Zhang, Ph.D., corporate vice president of global drug discovery at Novo Nordisk, said in the release. “We believe that the likelihood of discovering truly novel targets is higher because of the nature of these data.”