Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals, a Hanover, Germany-based bio/pharmaceutical company, in an EUR 1.025 billion ($1.1 billion) deal. The deal includes an undiclosed upfront payment and additional payments if certain development and commercial milestones are achieved. 

Cardior focuses on the discovery and development of therapies that target RNA as a means to prevent, repair, and reverse diseases of the heart. The company’s therapeutic approach targets distinctive non-coding RNAs as a platform for addressing root causes of cardiac dysfunctions.   

The acquisition includes Cardior’s lead compound CDR132L, currently in Phase II clinical development for the treatment of heart failure. Novo Nordisk plans to initiate a second Phase II trial that will investigate CDR132L in a chronic heart failure population with cardiac hypertrophy, a condition that causes the walls of the heart muscle to become thick and stiff, thereby affecting the heart’s ability to pump blood. 

The closing of the acquisition is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and other customary conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024. 

Source: Novo Nordisk