The rival in the GLP-1 market to Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly has raised one of Europe’s largest ever rounds of Series A funding led by Forbion and General Atlantic.
Analysts predicted that this would be the year of GLP-1 funding, and not even halfway through January, London-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Verdiva Bio has raised $411 million (£334.6 million) to take on Wegovy and Ozempic in one of Europe’s largest ever rounds of Series A funding.
The oversubscribed round was co-led by venture capital firm Forbion Capital Partners and US growth equity firm General Atlantic, with additional participation from RA Capital Management, OrbiMed, Logos Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, and LYFE Capital.
“People living with obesity and its complications deserve better options at each stage of their treatment journey, including oral therapies with less frequent dosing regimens, the potential for improved efficacy and tolerability, and innovative combination therapies in pursuit of healthier weight loss and, equally importantly, maintenance of metabolically healthy weight,” says chief executive officer Khurem Farooq. He has form in the sector previously leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Aiolos Bio and Gyroscope Therapeutics, which developed gene therapies for eye diseases.
A rival to Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly
The reason for investor excitement is Verdiva Bio’s potential to rival Novo Nordisk, owner of Wegovy and Ozempic, and Eli Lilly which owns Mounjaro.
Verdiva acquired global development and commercialisation rights outside Greater China and South Korea to its portfolio from Sciwind Biosciences in 2024. Verdiva intends to advance the development of these next-generation therapies via a mix of monotherapy and combination programs, including a Phase 2-ready, once-weekly oral GLP-1 receptor agonist. The group is also working on a once-weekly oral amylin agonist for use as monotherapy or in combination with an oral GLP-1 agonist as well as a long-acting, subcutaneous amylin agonist for use as monotherapy or in combination with a proprietary GLP-1 peptide.
“These programs represent next-generation potential against multiple targets and are anticipated to improve treatment adherence and offer a more sustainable solution for maintaining weight loss,” says the group’s chief medical officer Mohamed Eid. He has joined from Boehringer Ingelheim, where he was head of clinical development and medical affairs for cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic medicines in the US. Previously, Eid held senior clinical, medical, and regulatory roles at Novo Nordisk.
The Series A financing will be used to push forward the clinical development of Verdiva Bio’s existing assets as well as to expand its cardiometabolic portfolio.
