Novo Nordisk and Aspect Team Up to Develop Bioprinting-Based Diabetes Treatment

In hopes of accomplishing a science-fiction-level feat of engineering, Novo Nordisk paid Aspect Biosystems $75 million in a partnership to leverage the company’s bioprinted tissue therapeutics to develop a type 1 diabetes cell therapy. The deal marks Aspect’s first major strategic partnership with a big pharma company and could bring as much as $2.6 billion in biobucks subject to certain development, regulatory, and sales milestones.

3D-Printed Tissues for Cell Therapy

A privately-held Canadian company, Aspect Biosystems, started with the goal of developing a bioprinting system that could produce artificial tissues that could replace, repair, or supplement biological functions in the body. 

With years of development under its belt, Aspect is refining its full-stack therapeutic tissue platform, which 3D-prints biologically functional and immune-protective tissues suitable for transplantation. The system layers cell-containing fibers to build up tissue-like structures. Each structure is carefully designed and uses multiple biomaterials to construct an artificial tissue suited for a specific purpose. 

Aspect is independently designing bioprinted liver tissues to potentially help solve the shortage of available liver donors. Currently, in the pre-clinical phase, Aspect is using human hepatocytes to develop a product that could target acute liver failure, acute-on-chronic liver failure, and liver-related genetic disorders. 

The partnership with Novo Nordisk could be a huge step forward for Aspect, which has only partnered with research organizations and educational institutions rather than a big pharma company, which may provide more resources and connections. 

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Striking a Diabetes Deal for Big Biobucks

As part of the deal, Novo Nordisk agreed to pay Aspect $75 million upfront, with the potential for an additional $650 million in development, regulatory, and sales milestones for each product. Aspect could also make some extra money on tiered royalties in the distant future.

Novo Nordisk said the collaboration would initially focus on developing bioprinted tissues that could maintain normal glucose levels without needing immunosuppression. The prospect of such a product could revolutionize type 1 diabetes treatments, providing entirely new avenues to develop and administer therapies. 

Additionally, as part of the deal, Novo Nordisk would receive an exclusive, worldwide license to use Aspect’s bioprinting technology to develop up to four products to treat diabetes or obesity. Novo has not yet disclosed which direction it may want to go for the remaining development programs, but it did make it clear that it plans to leverage its expertise in cell therapy to pair with the bioprinting technology.

Corporate vice president of Cell Therapy R&D at Novo Nordisk, Jacob Sten Petersen, said, “Novo Nordisk has built strong capabilities when it comes to producing functional and highly pure therapeutic replacement cells at the highest quality and at scale. Collaborating with Aspect Biosystems adds an important component to our strategy to develop comprehensive cell therapy products.”

With an exciting idea behind its bioprinting technology, Aspect is in a good position with its newfound partner, Novo Nordisk. Both companies stand to gain quite a bit in the search for innovative and invigorating new takes on type 1 diabetes therapies. 

Author

Reed Slater