Novo Nordisk has announced an expansion of its research collaboration exploring oral delivery technologies with MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).
The updated agreement extends the collaboration through 2026 and expands its scope to bioelectronics, biosensors and stimuli-responsive delivery devices.
The collaboration, which began in 2015, has explored alternatives to syringes and pen injectors, co-creating devices designed to safely and effectively deliver biologic medicines orally. This collaboration has developed several products so far, including the SOMA robotic pill, which has subsequently been licensed exclusively to Novo Nordisk for clinical development.
“Working with the Langer and Traverso teams continues to be a unique opportunity for Novo Nordisk to live out our aspiration of bringing transformational new solutions to patients by thinking big, working with the best, and using our distinct capabilities to aim to achieve what might otherwise seem impossible,” said Marcus Schindler, PhD, professor, Executive VP and CSO, Novo Nordisk.
“We continue to explore the immense potential for enhanced delivery of biologic drugs and stem cell-derived therapeutics through the platforms we are developing,” said Giovanni Traverso, the Karl van Tassel, Career Development Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
“Our group at MIT strives to combine engineering and medicine to solve important problems and find the best ways to get those solutions to the people who need them,” added Robert Langer, David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT. “Our work together with Novo Nordisk has shown that they share this vision, and we are thrilled to expand into this ambitious new programme together.”
