Novo Nordisk teamed up with Orbis Medicines on a deal focused on developing oral alternatives to injectable cardiometabolic therapies, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The collaboration includes undisclosed upfront payments and up to $1.4 billion in development and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties and a strategic investment by Novo. The agreement centers on Orbis’ AI-enabled macrocycle design platform nGen, which uses lab-in-the-loop experimentation to optimize molecules for oral bioavailability—an area that has historically struggled due to stability and permeability barriers. The partnership signals continued strategic investment by Novo into orally delivered peptide and peptide-mimetic approaches, potentially reshaping competitive dynamics against injectable GLP-1 and related therapies.