Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO) has reportedly agreed to acquire three early-stage obesity drug programs from New York-based Kallyope, Inc., according to a LinkedIn post from Novo's head of global research Jacob Petersen. The move deepens an existing relationship between the two firms that began with a research collaboration and a single-asset license exercised in September 2024.
The transaction gives Novo access to programs generated by Kallyope’s neural circuits discovery platform, which is designed to identify signaling pathways linking peripheral organs with the brain and translate those circuits into drug targets. Kallyope has focused much of that work on the biological control of feeding and metabolism, providing Novo with mechanisms outside the incretin and amylin pathways that dominate much of the current obesity pipeline. No deal specifics or financial terms were disclosed.
K-554 is the most advanced of the three assets. Kallyope describes the once-weekly peptide as targeting a previously undisclosed component of a neural circuit involved in feeding regulation and has specifically distinguished its biology from both GLP-1 and amylin. The other two acquired programs are small molecules against separate novel targets and are in lead optimization.
The assets broaden an obesity pipeline that Novo has been deliberately diversifying beyond semaglutide. Alongside GLP-1-based therapies, the company is developing amylin programs including cagrilintide and zenagamtide, the CB1 inverse agonist monlunabant, and externally sourced multi-receptor agonists. The Kallyope deal adds a different discovery axis centered on neural control of appetite, potentially giving Novo mechanisms that could be developed alone or layered onto incretin therapy.