Novo Nordisk (NVO), Valo Ink Deal to Develop Heart Disease Drugs
Novo Nordisk A/S NVO announced entering into an agreement with Valo Health, Inc. to discover and develop novel treatments for cardiometabolic diseases by utilizing Valo’s large human dataset and computation, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), known as Opal Computational Platform.
The agreement grants Novo Nordisk access to Valo’s proprietary Opal Computational Platform, including access to real-world patient data, AI-enabled small molecule discovery and Biowire human tissue modeling platform. Together, these tools are expected to boost the discovery and development process of novel cardiometabolic drug programs.
Apart from discovering new candidates using Valo’s platform, Novo Nordisk is also licensing three preclinical drug discovery programs in cardiovascular diseases, which are discovered and developed by Valo using the Opal Computational Platform.
Per the terms of the agreement, NVO is liable to make an upfront payment along with potential near-term milestone payments, totaling $60 million. The company is also liable to make milestone payments to Valo for up to 11 programs in its pipeline, totaling up to $2.7 billion.
The milestone payments do not include research and development funding and potential royalty payments. Such payments will be made by Novo Nordisk separately.
Year to date, shares of NVO have soared 34.7% compared with the industry’s 5.7% rise.
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Novo Nordisk believes that the superior pre-clinical capabilities of Valo allow for the early identification and validation of novel druggable targets. The identification of these targets, in turn, aids the process of developing drug candidates against these targets. Successful identification also helps in predicting the safety and efficacy of new compounds.
Per NVO, AI and machine learning are set to revolutionize the future and hold similar promise in the realm of drug discovery and development. Screening large human datasets using AI tools, early in the process of drug development, is expected to provide a better understanding of target biology and translate them into potential therapeutics, thereby improving drug accuracy and reducing time and resources spent in drug development.
Valo’s differentiated approach holds the potential to provide therapeutic options to patients suffering from cardiometabolic conditions. The collaboration with Novo Nordisk grants Valo access to the massive resources and technological prowess of this Danish pharma bigwig to derive novel insights from human genetic and longitudinal patient data in cardiovascular disease.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Novo Nordisk currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the overall medical sector, worth mentioning, are Dynavax Technologies DVAX, Corcept Therapeutics CORT and Better Therapeutics BTTX, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Dynavax’s 2023 loss per share has narrowed from 24 cents to 23 cents. The estimate for Dynavax’s 2024 earnings per share is currently pegged at 3 cents. Year to date, shares of DVAX have risen by 32.4%.
DVAX’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average surprise of 25.78%.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Corcept’s 2023 earnings per share has remained constant at 78 cents. The estimate for Corcept’s 2024 earnings per share has also remained constant at 83 cents. Year to date, shares of CORT have climbed 59.1%.
CORT’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters and missed the mark in the other two, delivering an average surprise of 6.99%.
In the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Better Therapeutics’ 2023 loss per share has remained constant at 98 cents. During the same period, Better Therapeutics’ 2024 loss per share has also remained constant at 80 cents. Year to date, shares of BTTX have lost 67.7%.
BTTX’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 24.22%.
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Dynavax Technologies Corporation (DVAX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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Better Therapeutics, Inc. (BTTX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
