The Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is taking over the biotech company Cardior Pharmaceuticals from Hanover for more than one billion euros.
Both companies have agreed that Novo Nordisk will pay up to 1.025 billion euros for the start-up, it said in a joint statement. With this, Novo Nordisk, known primarily for its diabetes business and the weight loss products Wegovy and Ozempic, wants to strengthen its presence in the area of ​​cardiovascular diseases. The focus in particular is on a promising drug from the Hanover company against heart failure.
Cardior was founded in 2016 as a spin-off from the Hannover Medical School. The therapy for heart disease developed by the start-up is currently in phase II trials. Novo Nordisk is now the ideal partner “to accelerate our late-stage development program, including through larger approval studies,” said Cardior boss and co-founder Claudia Ulbrich, according to the statement. Together they want to get the product approved for market. According to the information, the takeover is expected to be completed in the second quarter.
Novo Nordisk, known for decades for its diabetes business, has become one of the most valuable stock exchange companies in the world thanks to the boom surrounding weight loss products Wegovy and Ozempic. There has been a lot of hype surrounding weight loss injections, especially in the USA.