Boeh Ingelheim/Novo Nordisk Anti-Obesity Collaboration

Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim and Danish firm Novo Nordisk have entered into a multi-year agreement on research into drug treatment for obesity, which is seen as a major player in the development of Type 2 diabetes (maturity-onset diabetes), which typically occurs in adults above the age of 40.

The focus of the agreement will be the discovery of new drugs which influence receptors on cells in the brain or in fat cells, thereby regulating food intake, energy expenditure or the number of fat cells, and thus decreasing fat accumulation in obese people.

The research deal is supplemented by a basic framework for development and marketing, which determines a 50:50 split of cost and a profit-sharing principle. All patents resulting from the collaboration will be jointly owned.