Novo Nordisk ends $285M TransCon partnership with Ascendis, which will now develop monthly obesity drug itself
What happened? On 14 September 2026, Ascendis Pharma disclosed that Novo Nordisk has terminated the collaboration the two companies signed in November 2024 to develop TransCon-based products in metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. The partnership — worth up to $285 million to Ascendis in upfront, development and regulatory milestone payments for the lead programme — centred on a once-monthly GLP-1 receptor agonist (the drug class behind Wegovy) for obesity and type 2 diabetes, built on Ascendis's TransCon "transient conjugation" technology, which temporarily links a drug to an inert carrier to extend how long it acts in the body.
Why it matters: Ascendis regains full rights to the technology in these disease areas and says it will now pursue development of TransCon Semaglutide, a once-monthly version of the ingredient in Wegovy, itself — turning a deal loss into a wholly owned obesity programme. Chief executive Jan Mikkelsen said Ascendis plans to initiate multiple new programmes in cardiovascular and metabolic disease, including obesity. For Novo, the walk-away is the latest in a string of abandoned bets from deals signed under the previous leadership: last month it confirmed it had given up on all candidates from the $1.1 billion Inversago Pharma acquisition, and last week it scrapped two more Phase 3 trials of the kidney drug ziltivekimab. Novo has declined to give a reason for the termination, saying only that developing medicines given as less frequent injections remains a focus of its R&D — the company notably lost a 2025 bidding war with Pfizer for monthly-GLP-1 maker Metsera.
Read more: Ascendis Pharma, 14 September 2026 · Fierce Biotech, 15 September 2026
