Northern BioStrategies
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The Push Toward Oral Obesity and Diabetes Biologics

Miriam Saif •
#biopharma#metabolic disease#oral biologics

Obesity and diabetes are currently two of the most pressing global health challenges, shown by how the pharmaceutical sector has been overtaken by injectable GLP-1 receptor agonists (RAs) 1, 2. These drugs, such as semaglutide and liraglutide, had been originally developed for diabetes treatment, but have recently shown success in managing obesity 2, 3. However, injectable-based drugs bring many barriers, with it being more costly, and with patients often preferring less dosing regimens and oral formulations instead 4, 5.

This year, Novo Nordisk have partnered up with Vivtex to develop the next generation oral biologics for obesity and diabetes, marking a strategic shift in treating metabolic disease 6.

What The Partnership Entails

Novo Nordisk and Vivtex are collaborating, with a huge $2.1 billion deal, to utilise Vivtex’s delivery platform and enable oral administration of complex biologics that were traditionally limited to injectable formats 6. This is in hopes to develop the next generation of oral GLP-1s, giving both companies advantage of the market 6.

This partnership addresses the challenge of making oral versions of the drug due to their very low absorption, leading to poor delivery 6. Novo Nordisk brings decades of expertise in metabolic disease and the commercial scale required to deliver these treatments globally, whilst Vivtex brings their improvement of the drugs’ absorption through their machine-learning technology 6. This partnership also aligns with Novo’s broader strategy of differentiating its obesity pipeline as GLP-1 competition increases worldwide.

Why Oral Biologics are a Potential Game Changer

Shifting biologics from injections to pills could transform how treatments are delivered globally:

Why Now?

Over the past year, global demand for obesity drugs has increased far beyond manufacturing capacity 7. With Eli Lilly having boosted their obesity pipelines, putting pressure on the market, as well as on Novo to push back since both companies are leading the market 6,8.

Developing next-generation oral GLP-1 drugs offers many advantages to Novo Nordisk and Vivtex:

Implications

With the increased attention on oral delivery technologies, this could provide opportunities for UK spinouts or university labs working in formulation science, nanoparticle delivery or even GI-optimised biologics.

Global pharma industry leader companies are continuing to seek platform technologies, creating opportunities for partnerships with these companies 9.

If oral biologics manage to reduce long-term healthcare costs and improve adherence, they could even align with the NHS and their objectives in being cost-effective, especially for the chronic metabolic conditions that heavily impact the NHS system already 10.

Overall, drug delivery itself seems to become a strategic focus for competitors, opening the door for early-career researchers and scientists to grow their skills in formulation R&D and translational engineering, and for early start-ups to establish themselves in entering the market.

Key Takeaways

Novo is already committing over $400 million to expand its oral GLP-1 manufacturing facility in Ireland to scale production of therapies, including its injectable, Wegovy. But its partnership with Vivtex is still in its early stages, and the timeline for viable oral biologics still remains uncertain. However, it is likely that this collaboration will not only influence Novo Nordisk’s pipeline direction but also for other major, competitive pharma companies to develop their own pipelines and strategies in 2026 and beyond.

We should expect to see more partnerships between pharma and drug-delivery tech platforms, increased investments into oral formulations for the current injectable biologics, and early-stage clinical trial announcements over the next couple years.

References

  1. Abad-Jiménez Z, Vezza T. Obesity: A Global Health Challenge Demanding Urgent Action. Biomedicines. 2025;13(2):502-502. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13020502

  2. Watanabe JH, Kwon J, Nan B, Reikes A. Trends in glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist use, 2014 to 2022. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association. 2023;64(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japh.2023.10.002

  3. Hina Imasu. Overweight. BoD – Books on Demand; 2025.

  4. Feng Z, Wai Kei Tong, Zhang X, Tang Z. Cost-effectiveness analysis of once-daily oral semaglutide versus placebo and subcutaneous glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists added to insulin in patients with type 2 diabetes in China. Frontiers in pharmacology. 2023;14. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2023.1226778

  5. Latif W, Lambrinos KJ, Rodriguez R. Compare And Contrast the Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP1RAs). PubMed. Published 2023. Accessed March 6, 2026. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34283517/

  6. Knapp A. Novo Nordisk Inks $2.1 Billion Deal To Develop Better Obesity Pills. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2026/02/25/novo-nordisk-inks-a-21-billion-deal-to-develop-next-generation-obesity-pills/. Published February 25, 2026. Accessed March 6, 2026.

  7. Altabas V, Orlović Z, Baretić M. Addressing the Shortage of GLP-1 RA and Dual GIP/GLP-1 RA-Based Therapies—A Systematic Review. Diabetology. 2025;6(6):52. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/diabetology6060052

  8. Joshi S. Novo Nordisk vs Eli Lilly: Who’s Winning the Obesity Drug Race? DelveInsight Business Research. Published March 17, 2025. Accessed March 6, 2026. https://www.delveinsight.com/blog/novo-vs-eli-lilly-in-anti-obesity-drug-market

  9. Simonov R. DOMINANT BUSINESS MODELS IN THE GLOBAL PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY. Economics and Education. 2019;4(2):39-44. Accessed March 6, 2026. http://www.baltijapublishing.lv/index.php/econedu/article/view/1031

  10. Heald A, Stedman M, Fryer AA, et al. Counting the lifetime cost of obesity: Analysis based on national England data. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2024;26(4). doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/dom.15447

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