Novo Nordisk, the world’s biggest insulin maker, is hiring the “most eminent people” in obesity, Chief Science Officer Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen said in an interview. The Bagsvaerd, Denmark-based company will seek collaborations with universities and biotechnology firms to get new ideas for therapies it can then develop in-house, he said.
“We are taking a whole portfolio approach, pretty much like Novo Nordisk has done in diabetes, with different solutions for different people,” Thomsen said,
speaking in Vienna, where he’s attending the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference. The fight against obesity also “calls for different approaches.”
Novo Nordisk on Sept. 11 won the backing of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel for approval of its Saxenda weight-loss injection, which would help Novo expand use of a medicine originally approved for diabetes. Saxenda would compete with Belviq from Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ARNA) and Eisai Co. (4523), and Vivus Inc. (VVUS)’s Qsymia, both cleared for the market in 2012. Another obesity drug, Contrave from Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. (OREX) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., won FDA approval last week.
Pharmaceutical companies are attracted to the weight-loss market because of its size and growth prospects. More than a third of U.S. adults are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the condition can lead to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
Energy Expenditure
“Obesity is now considered a disease,” Thomsen said. “Suddenly it’s coming into the same playing field as diabetes.”Saxenda could potentially be used in combination with “other natural appetite-regulators or even products that increase energy expenditure,” he said.
Drugmakers typically need 500 people or more in research and development to create a new therapy area, and the cost can quickly move into the hundreds of millions of dollars annually, he added, declining to be more specific. To expand in obesity Novo Nordisk will need doctors, lab technicians to do more experiments and biologists to come up with new hypotheses for drugs, Thomsen said.
The U.S. is the country with the biggest obesity problem and the place where some of the best scientists are located, he said. Novo Nordisk may group obesity research in Seattle, where it already has a facility, Thomsen said. The company this month said it would stop research into inflammatory disorders after giving up on its lead product in the area.
Saxenda could generate $429 million in sales in 2017, according to the average of three analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The FDA is expected to determine whether to approve Saxenda by the end of October.
“Being pioneers in this therapeutic area is logical for Novo Nordisk,” Thomsen said. “We are used to chronic diseases.”
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