Novartis, Unnatural Products Sign Licensing Deal
Unnatural Products has announced a licensing agreement with Novartis to develop macrocyclic peptide therapeutics. The partnership will leverage Unnatural Products' platform to discover and develop new medicines. This collaboration highlights continued interest from major pharmaceutical companies in novel therapeutic modalities.
- The financial terms of the agreement include up to $100 million in upfront and pre-IND milestone payments for Unnatural Products (UNP), with the total deal value reaching up to $1.8 billion based on development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. UNP is also eligible for tiered royalties on net sales, ranging from mid-single to low-double digits. - The collaboration is focused on developing macrocyclic peptide-based therapies for cardiovascular disease, which remains the leading cause of death globally. Novartis will be responsible for all IND-enabling studies, subsequent clinical development, manufacturing, and global commercialization of any drugs that emerge from the partnership. - Unnatural Products' technology platform utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning to design and synthesize macrocyclic peptides, a class of molecules that can address "undruggable" intracellular targets. Their platform combines AI-guided molecular design with parallel experimentation to create orally-delivered therapeutics that possess the selectivity of biologics and the drug-like properties of small molecules. - This deal is part of a larger trend of significant investment in the peptide therapeutics market, which was valued at over $117 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow. Specifically, the global macrocyclic peptide therapeutics market was valued at $1.42 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach $3.24 billion by 2033. - Santa Cruz-based Unnatural Products, Inc. was co-founded by CEO Cameron Pye and CSO Joshua Schwochert. In December 2023, the company announced a $32 million Series A funding round led by Merck's Global Health Innovation Fund and ARTIS Ventures. - This agreement with Novartis follows other major partnerships for Unnatural Products, including a collaboration with Merck in January 2024 for an oncology target worth up to $220 million and a deal with Argenx focused on immune disorders potentially worth $1.5 billion. - The deal aligns with Novartis's recent strategy of investing heavily in cardiovascular disease research and novel therapeutic platforms, having pledged over $17 billion to various licensing and acquisition deals in 2025. Muneto Mogi, Novartis's Global Head of Global Discovery Chemistry, noted that advances in macrocyclic chemistry are "opening entirely new avenues in drug discovery."
