By Adria Calatayud
Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk agreed to sell an experimental cell therapy for Parkinson's disease to Cellular Intelligence and take a stake in the U.S. startup, Cellular Intelligence said Monday.
Novo Nordisk will make an equity investment in Cellular Intelligence in connection to the deal and be eligible for future payments subject to targets and royalties, Cellular Intelligence said, without disclosing the size of the investment.
The Danish drugmaker last year said it would reallocate resources toward its growth priorities in diabetes and obesity as part of Chief Executive Mike Doustdar's plan to regain ground lost to rival Eli Lilly in the weight-loss market.
Cellular Intelligence said it aims to deploy its artificial-intelligence platform to accelerate the development of the therapy, which is currently undergoing an early and midstage clinical trial, and its path to commercialization.
"Optimizing and scaling complex cell therapy programs to reach patients globally is exactly the challenge our AI-native platform was built to solve," Cellular Intelligence co-Founder and Chief Executive Micha Breakstone said.
Cellular Intelligence also said it is appointing Nuno Mendonca, a neurologist who previously worked at AbbVie and Novartis, as chief medical officer to lead the clinical development of the program.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-11-26 1148ET
