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Obesity fighting success fuels Novo Nordisk’s bet on gene-editing technology in pharma

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Capitalising on strong demand for its obesity therapies, Novo Nordisk‘s growing appetite for deals has fuelled a bet on a U.S. gene-editing company called Life Edit Therapeutics.

The Danish drugmaker’s collaboration with Durham, North Carolina-based Life Edit Therapeutics – owned by ElevateBio, a cell and gene therapy company in Waltham – is focused on up to seven programs for rare genetic disorders as well as cardiometabolic diseases.

At the heart of the tie-up is Life Edit’s technology, called base editing, which is designed to make precise changes to the human genome by tweaking one base – or letter – into a different one without affecting other letters.

Single-letter mistakes, called point mutations, can give rise to genetic diseases.

The Novo deal comes as the company basks in the success of its incredibly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, for which demand has far outstripped supply.

At the heart of the tie-up is Life Edit’s technology, called base editing, which is designed to make precise changes to the human genome by tweaking one base – or letter – into a different one without affecting other letters.

Single-letter mistakes, called point mutations, can give rise to genetic diseases.

The Novo deal comes as the company basks in the success of its incredibly popular weight-loss drug Wegovy, for which demand has far outstripped supply.

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