Novo Nordisk enters new deal to advance 3d‑printed islet cell therapies in the country
Novo Nordisk is shifting key diabetes research into Canada while fighting to hold its lead in the crowded GLP‑1 drug market.
According to Reuters, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has partnered with Canada-based Aspect Biosystems to develop cell-based treatments for diabetes.
Aspect will lead development, manufacturing and commercialisation, while Novo Nordisk keeps options and rights to expand its role later.
Aspect has acquired rights to Novo Nordisk technologies that produce insulin-making “islet” cells from stem cells and engineer cells to be less likely to be attacked by the immune system.
Novo Nordisk will also make an additional equity investment, provide research funding, and remain eligible for royalties and milestone payments on future product sales.
Reuters reported that the deal will shift some research, development and manufacturing capabilities and expertise from the United States and Denmark into Aspect’s Canada-based platform.
It will expand Aspect’s internal capacity and builds on collaboration between the companies that has been in place since 2023.
Aspect uses 3D bioprinting to place living cells into tiny, precise patterns to build tissue-like structures, aiming to make implantable cell therapies such as insulin-producing islet cell replacements.
At the same time, as per the Wall Street Journal, Novo Nordisk is trying to distinguish Ozempic from other GLP‑1 drugs for Type 2 diabetes with a new ad campaign.
The campaign revives Apple’s early-2000s “Get a Mac” format, reuniting Justin Long as Ozempic and John Hodgman as other GLP‑1s.
The campaign comes as Novo Nordisk’s early grip on the GLP‑1 market has slipped amid production challenges and growing competition, and as patents begin to expire for semaglutide, the key ingredient in Ozempic and sibling weight-loss treatment Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk chief executive Maziar Mike Doustdar told the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that “2025 was a difficult year” and that the company is now focused on expanding the market as it faces more competition.
The “There’s Only One Ozempic” ads stress that Ozempic is FDA-approved to lower the risk of worsening chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular events, unlike its rivals.
The Wall Street Journal said the campaign uses a more irreverent tone than typical pharmaceutical advertising and will run on social media and connected TVs, with Novo Nordisk monitoring social media to see how effectively it separates Ozempic from other GLP‑1s.
