Currently trailing Eli Lilly and Structure Therapeutics in the oral weight loss space, Novo Nordisk strikes a deal with Septerna to put new discovery-stage programs into play.

Novo Nordisk is making yet another bet on obesity, offering Septerna more than $200 million in upfront and near-term payments for rights to preclinical oral small molecules that hit targets including GLP-1.

It seems Novo Nordisk is leaving no stone unturned as it builds a pipeline of drug candidates for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, as it pays $200 million for rights to preclinical-stage candidates developed by Septerna.