Bagsværd, Denmark and Boston, Massachusetts, US, 25 September 2023 – Novo Nordisk A/S and Valo Health, Inc. today announced they have entered into an agreement to discover and develop novel treatments for cardiometabolic diseases based on Valo’s large human dataset and computation powered by artificial intelligence (AI).

The collaboration between the two organizations will leverage the capabilities of Valo’s Opal Computational Platform™ including access to real-world patient data, AI-enabled small molecule discovery and Biowire^® human tissue modelling platform designed to speed up the discovery and development process.

Valo’s preclinical capabilities enable identification and validation of novel druggable targets, as well as development of drug candidates against these targets, and can help predict compound safety and efficacy.

In addition to target discovery and validation as part of the collaboration, Novo Nordisk is licensing three preclinical drug discovery programmes in cardiovascular diseases discovered and developed by Valo using the Opal Computational Platform™.

Under the terms of the agreement, Valo will receive an upfront payment and a potential near-term milestone payment, totalling 60 million US dollars, and is eligible to receive milestone payments for up to 11 programmes, totalling up to 2.7 billion dollars, plus R&D funding and potential royalty payments. The partnership between Novo Nordisk and Valo will leverage key joint capabilities in human data and genetics with a stronghold in cardiometabolic diseases.

“Artificial Intelligence and machine learning hold the promise to positively impact drug discovery and development, in particular enabling our vision of leveraging human datasets early in the process, which should lead to a better understanding of target biology,” said Marcus Schindler, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Novo Nordisk. “Valo brings a differentiated and powerful approach to using these technologies on real-world human data to generate new insights and translate them into potential therapeutics for the benefit of patients suffering from cardiometabolic conditions. I am very much looking forward to our collaboration.”

By securing access to Valo’s proprietary Opal Computational Platform™, Novo Nordisk complements its existing technology base. The collaboration allows for a close partnership between the two companies, with activities that could span the entire drug discovery continuum. Novo Nordisk and Valo plan to work together to derive novel insights from human genetic and longitudinal patient data in cardiovascular disease.

“Partnering with Novo Nordisk, a leader in cardiometabolic disease, creates a unique opportunity to continue to deploy our Opal Computational Platform™ at scale in the discovery and development of novel cardiometabolic therapeutics,” said Valo CEO and founder David Berry. “We are excited to implement the full spectrum of our platform spanning from disease characterization through clinical development as we aim to deliver new therapeutics to benefit patients living with some of the most prevalent chronic diseases of our time.”

About the Opal Computational Platform™
Valo’s Opal Computational Platform™ is an integrated, end-to-end drug discovery and development platform with a unified architecture founded upon high-quality, proprietary and differentiated human-centric data and purpose-built AI. Opal is designed to enable a fully integrated, efficient approach for targeting and advancing product candidates, from understanding the underlying disease through regulatory approval.

About Valo Health
Valo Health, Inc is a technology company focused on utilizing large scale data and AI-driven computation to discover and develop therapeutics. Valo aims to fully integrate human-centric data across the entire drug development life cycle into a single unified architecture, thereby accelerating the discovery and development of life-changing drugs while simultaneously reducing costs, time, and failure rates. The company’s Opal Computational Platform™ is an end-to-end drug discovery and development platform with a unified architecture designed to transform data into valuable insights that may accelerate discoveries and enable Valo to advance a robust pipeline of programs, initially focused on cardiovascular metabolic renal, oncology, and neurodegenerative disease. Founded by Flagship Pioneering and headquartered in Boston, MA, Valo also has offices in Lexington, MA, and New York, NY. To learn more, visit valohealth.com.

About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 59,000 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.com, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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Source:- Novonordisk