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Replicate Bioscience partners with Novo Nordisk to advance self-replicating RNA therapies for obesity and type 2 diabetes, enhancing innovative treatment options.
Replicate will receive research funding from Novo Nordisk to continue its development of srRNA technology.
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Replicate Bioscience announced its partnership with Novo Nordisk for a multi-year research collaboration. The collaboration pairs Novo Nordisk’s therapeutic knowledge and drug development experience with Replicate’s novel self-replicating RNA (srRNA) platform, aiming to develop therapeutic solutions to treat obesity, type 2 diabetes and additional cardiometabolic diseases.
"Replicate works with industry leaders to create fit-for-purpose srRNA that enables patients' cells to naturally generate their own therapeutic proteins," said Rachael Lester, MBA, chief business officer at Replicate Bioscience. "This partnership combines the strength of Replicate's proprietary srRNA vector library with Novo Nordisk's therapeutic and clinical insights to create powerful new opportunities. We are very excited to collaborate with the team at Novo Nordisk."1
Under the terms of the agreement Novo Nordisk and Replicate will focus on certain targets for cardiometabolic diseases. Novo is also receiving a defined exclusive worldwide license to Replicate’s srRNA platform to develop and commercialize the lead programs. Meanwhile Replicate will be granted research funding and is eligible receive up to $550 million in additional payments from Novo Nordisk, including up-front cash payments, potential milestones, and tiered royalty payments on future product sales.
Replicate amplifies the power of RNA therapeutics using its srRNA technology to overcome the deficiencies of established RNA approaches, improving on bioactivity, increasing potent immune responses, and improving the therapeutic index. Replicate’s portfolio of srRNA technology enables it to customize its protein expression profiles, which have demonstrated increased protein expression, durability, and tunability in vivo compared to other RNA modalities.
Replicate’s most advanced therapeutic protein asset targets, IL-1 receptor agonist and IL18 binding protein, forms a dual-blockade of cytokines downstream of inflammasome activation, contributing a key aspect to inflammatory diseases such as, chronic IBD, gout, and recurrent pericarditis.
"We founded Replicate to overcome the limitations of conventional mRNA," said Nathaniel Wang, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Replicate Bioscience. "This collaboration reinforces the transformative potential of Replicate's science and expedites our innovative pipeline of prophylactic vaccines and srRNA-powered therapeutic proteins."1
One of the leading candidates of its pipeline, Replicate’s clinical stage rabies vaccine RBI-4000 has demonstrated protective levels of immunity at lower dosage amounts than other RNA-based vaccines during Phase I trials.Replicate is continuing to advance its pipeline of srRNA vaccines and therapeutics, powered by its portfolio of customizable viral vectors.
With expertise in srRNA vaccines and therapeutic options, along with Replicate’s end-to-end development capabilities, Replicate positioned its partnership with Novo Nordisk to expand its pipeline and deliver next generation srRNA solutions.
Karina Thorn, corporate vice president of nucleic acid research at Novo Nordisk, touched on the collaboration effort and the impact it has for Novo Nordisk, saying, “Novo Nordisk is continuously looking to build on its leading position in cardiometabolic diseases. We seek to combine our core capabilities with selected modality platforms to raise the innovation bar to the benefit of people living with serious chronic diseases. We are excited about this partnership with Replicate, as it allows us to create a new avenue for development of novel, impactful therapies."1
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