The Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk intends to acquire the German biotech company Cardior Pharmaceuticals for more than one billion euros. The offer provides for an upfront payment as well as additional payments upon reaching certain development and commercialisation milestones. Novo Nordisk, which has risen to become one of the most valuable pharmaceutical companies with its diabetes and weight loss drugs, is securing access to a promising active ingredient for the treatment of heart failure with the purchase.
Cardior specialises in the research and development of therapies based on RNA-based technologies for the prevention and treatment of heart disease. The company's therapeutic approach aims to utilise characteristic non-coding RNAs as a platform to address the causes of cardiac dysfunction and thus achieve a lasting effect for patients. The agreement includes Cardior's compound "CDR132L", which is currently in Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of heart failure. The acquisition is an important step in Novo Nordisk's strategy to establish itself in the field of cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the Danish company is to build a focussed, powerful therapeutic portfolio through proprietary research and the acquisition of compounds to address the significant unmet need in cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.
Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president for development at Novo Nordisk, says the integration of Cardior into the company will strengthen Novo Nordisk's cardiovascular disease project pipeline. They are "impressed by the scientific work of the Cardior team, particularly 'CDR132L', which has a unique mode of action and the potential to become a first-in-class therapy that can halt or partially reverse disease progression in people with heart failure." Novo Nordisk is planning a second Phase 2 study to evaluate the drug candidate in chronic heart failure with cardiac hypertrophy, a condition in which the heart muscle walls become stiff, affecting the heart's pumping ability.
Dr Claudia Ulbrich, CEO and co-founder of Cardior, emphasises that the acquisition reflects the transformative potential of 'CDR132L' as a disease-modifying therapy for heart failure. She expects Novo Nordisk to accelerate the late-stage development programme through its extensive clinical and commercial expertise combined with its resources, as well as through larger pivotal trials.
