Novo Nordisk To Buy Corvidia Therapeutics For Up To $2.1B

Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is buying Massachusetts-based biotech company Corvidia Therapeutics, the companies announced this week.

Subscribe to the Crunchbase Daily
The sale could ring in at up to $2.1 billion, according to a statement. Novo Nordisk will pay $725 million upfront, and total payments could be up to $2.1 billion, so long as certain regulatory and sales milestones are reached.

Corvidia focuses on researching and developing treatments for cardio-renal diseases. Its pipeline is focused on treating high triglyceride-induced acute pancreatitis and chronic kidney disease with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and inflammation, according to Corvidia’s website.

The company first received seed funding from Paris-based Sofinnova in 2015. Covidia is located in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Corvidia’s previous financings include a $26 million Series A led by Soffinova Partners and Apple Tree Partners in February 2016, and a $60 million Series B led by Venrock in April 2018.

The deal is notable for Novo Nordisk, considering it’s known for its focus on diabetes treatments. Other “main product areas” for the company are obesity, haemophilia, growth disorders and hormone replacement therapy. With the Corvidia acquisition, it seems the company is also looking to invest in cardio-rental disease therapy.

Some of Novo Nordisk’s other acquisitions include MB2 and Xellia Pharmaceuticals, according to Crunchbase.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias