Orbis Medicines Enters Multi-Target Drug Discovery Partnership with Novo Nordisk Worth up to USD 1.4 Billion
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Orbis Medicines Signs Drug Discovery Deal with Novo Nordisk Worth Up to USD 1.4 billion
Orbis Medicines, a biotech company based in Copenhagen and Lausanne, has entered a multi-target drug discovery and licensing partnership with Novo Nordisk. Announced on 17 September 2026, the agreement aims to develop oral medicines for cardiometabolic diseases that are currently treated with injections.
Under the terms of the deal, Orbis is eligible for up to USD 1.4 billion in upfront and potential development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on future product sales. Novo Nordisk will also make a strategic investment in Orbis. The breakdown of the payments and the size of the investment have not been disclosed. It is Orbis’ first partnership with a major pharmaceutical company.
From injections to pills
Many of today’s most effective medicines are biologics that must be injected. Orbis aims to replace them with oral drugs based on macrocycles: ring-shaped molecules large enough to act on challenging targets, yet designed to be absorbed through the gut.
The company’s proprietary platform, nGen, generates fully synthetic macrocycles called nCycles, optimised for oral bioavailability and membrane permeability. It combines:
- a generative AI and multi-parameter optimisation engine
- high-throughput, automated chemistry
- a “lab-in-the-loop” approach drawing on hit-finding libraries of 100 billion compounds
- the capacity to synthesise and analyse up to 100,000 macrocycles in a matter of weeks
Orbis’ proof-of-concept work has been published in Nature Communications and Nature Chemical Biology.
A strategic move for both partners
For Morten Graugaard, CEO of Orbis Medicines, the future of oral biologic drug discovery lies at the intersection of AI, proprietary macrocycle datasets and automated chemistry. Brian Vandahl, Senior Vice President of Therapeutics Discovery at Novo Nordisk, said the collaboration could “unlock innovative oral treatment options for patients with cardiometabolic diseases”.
For Novo Nordisk, the deal adds to a series of partnerships aimed at strengthening its pipeline in oral delivery and cardiometabolic disease. For Orbis, it is a major validation of its platform.
A foothold in the Swiss Health Valley
Alongside its Danish base, Orbis operates a Swiss entity, Orbis Medicines SA, at Superlab Suisse in Lausanne. Since 2024, the company has raised €116 million, including a €90 million Series A led by NEA, with Lilly Ventures, Cormorant, EIFO, Forbion and Novo Holdings among its investors.