Two Boston startups join the race to create the next major weight-loss drug

"Making biologics oral has been one of the most difficult challenges in drug delivery. Partnering with Novo Nordisk allows us to apply our platform across important metabolic disease areas. Vivtex's technology allows the company to quickly test thousands of drug formulations and predict how they will be absorbed in people, much more accurately than traditional lab methods."

"MIT scientists founded the biotech company Vivtex, which created a high-tech system called a "GI tract on a chip" that uses robotics and AI to test how drugs move through the human digestive system. Vivtex is eligible to receive up to $2.1 billion in royalties on the net sales of future products from the Novo Nordisk partnership."

"Eli Lilly announced a partnership with Boston-based Nimbus Therapeutics, potentially worth up to $1.3 billion. Headquartered in South Boston, Nimbus Therapeutics is a biotech company that uses computer modeling and AI to design new drugs, developing several experimental medicines including treatments for cancer and other conditions."

Novo Nordisk partnered with Cambridge-based Vivtex to develop next-generation oral medicines for obesity and diabetes, with Vivtex eligible to receive up to $2.1 billion in royalties. Vivtex, founded by MIT scientists, uses a proprietary "GI tract on a chip" technology combining robotics and AI to test drug formulations and predict absorption in the human digestive system more accurately than traditional methods. Simultaneously, Eli Lilly announced a partnership with Boston-based Nimbus Therapeutics, potentially worth up to $1.3 billion, to develop oral obesity treatments. Nimbus uses computer modeling and AI for drug design. Both companies address the significant challenge of converting biologics into oral medications as demand for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs surges.

Read at Boston.com