Novo Nordisk to acquire all shares of Bristol University spin-out company

Novo Nordisk, global healthcare company, has acquired all of the shares of a University of Bristol spin-out company — Ziylo — giving it full rights to a glucose blinding molecule platform to develop glucose responsive insulins.

Ziylo, which is based at Unit DX science incubator in Bristol, UK, has been pioneering the use of its platform technology for therapeutic and diagnostic applications. Through this acquisition, Novo Nordisk’s goal of developing glucose responsive insulins will be supported.

A glucose response insulin will be able to help eliminate the risk of hypoglycaemia — a major risk associated with insulin therapy and one of the main barriers for achieving optimal glucose control. Thus, a glucose responsive insulin could also lead to better metabolic control and thus overall reduce the burden of diabetes for people living with the disease.

Before the acquisition was closed, parts of the Ziylo’s research activities were spun-out to a new company called Carbometrics. This new company has entered into a research collaboration with Novo Nordisk to assist with ongoing optimisation of glucose binding molecules for use in glucose responsive insulins. It has also licensed rights to develop non-therapeutic applications of glucose binding molecules, with a focus on developing continuous glucose monitoring applications.

“We believe the glucose binding molecules discovered by the Ziylo team together with Novo Nordisk world-class insulin capabilities have the potential to lead to the development of glucose responsive insulins which we hope can remove the risk of hypoglycaemia and ensure optimal glucose control for people with diabetes,” stated Marcus Schindler, senior vice president, Global Drug Discovery, Novo Nordisk.

“Novo Nordisk is the ideal company to maximise the potential of the Ziylo glucose binding molecules in glucose responsive insulins and diabetes applications, and it brings hope of a truly groundbreaking treatment to diabetes patients,” commented Harry Destecroix, PhD, chief executive officer and co-founder of Ziylo. “Novo Nordisk is the leader in the diabetes field, with deep clinical development and regulatory expertise and an established commercial infrastructure to deliver important new therapies to patients.”