Novo Nordisk signed a collaboration and licensing agreement with Vivtex that could total up to $2.1 billion in payments to develop oral formulations of peptide and protein therapies for obesity, diabetes and related metabolic diseases. The deal gives Novo access to Vivtex’s gut‑screening and formulation platform and commits Vivtex to scale R&D efforts with tiered milestones and royalties. Novo already markets oral semaglutide and recently launched an oral form of Wegovy; the pact reflects an explicit commercial strategy to expand oral biologics across metabolic indications. Vivtex, an MIT spinout co‑founded by Robert Langer and Giovanni Traverso, will receive upfront and potential milestone payments tied to program progress and commercialization. For drug developers, the agreement signals continued industry investment in overcoming GI absorption barriers for biologics using high‑throughput formulation screening and microphysiological models. The terms and scale of payments position Vivtex as a sought‑after delivery partner and underscore competition to convert injectable peptide franchises into oral formats.