(Bloomberg) -- A UK biotechnology startup is entering the crowded obesity drug market, armed with $411 million and a promising next-generation weight-loss pill.
Verdiva Bio Ltd, led by former Aiolos Bio Inc. Chief Executive Officer Khurem Farooq, faces a mammoth task — breaking into a market dominated by Zepbound maker Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S, owner of Wegovy and Ozempic. Each has multiple successor drugs in late-stage development.
The leading experimental drug in Verdiva’s portfolio is a once-weekly oral GLP-1 that is ready for mid-stage trials. The new company can solve a challenge that’s stumped Novo Nordisk, CEO and co-founder Farooq said in an interview — packing the large amounts of active ingredient needed into a weekly pill format.
Verdiva’s technology can deliver the same efficacy with lower doses, Farooq said. This would drive down costs and make the category more accessible to patients, he said.
The company also has a once-weekly pill in development that mimics the gut hormone amylin, along with a long-acting injectable version. Amylin helps people stay satisfied for longer after meals.
Farooq’s track record as CEO includes Aiolos Bio, which was acquired by GSK Plc in 2024, and Gyroscope Therapeutics, purchased by Novartis AG in 2022. Several Aiolos veterans have joined Verdiva, and Chief Medical Officer Mohamed Eid was involved in the development of several obesity medicines at Novo Nordisk.
At Verdiva, Farooq has secured a pipeline of experimental drugs through a deal with China’s Hangzhou Sciwind Biosciences Co.
The other oral treatments in development by competitors are almost exclusively small-molecule drugs that are taken daily, said Mark Pruzanski, Verdiva’s chairman. Verdiva has once-weekly oral peptides for maintenance of weight loss in development, something “nobody is addressing that right now,” Pruzanski said.
The size of the financing, co-led by Forbion Capital Partners and General Atlantic LP, gives Verdiva ammunition to acquire the best assets, Farooq said. While the company would consider future partnerships with Big Pharma, it’s building manufacturing capacity on its own, he said.
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