By Colin Kellaher
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals shares jumped nearly 75% in early trading Friday after the biopharmaceutical company inked a license agreement potentially worth $1 billion with Danish drug maker Novo Nordisk.
Shares of Lexicon, based in The Woodlands, Texas, were recently changing hands at 60.4 cents, up 74%.
Lexicon said the agreement gives Novo Nordisk an exclusive, worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize LX9851, which is in development for the treatment of obesity and associated cardiometabolic disorders.
Lexicon said it will receive an upfront payment of $45 million from Novo Nordisk, which makes the blockbuster weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
Lexicon is also eligible for up to $960 million in development, regulatory and sales milestone payments, along with royalties on sales of LX9851.
Lexicon last year said preclinical data show that LX9851 significantly reduced weight, food intake and fat mass in mice when combined with semaglutide, the key ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.
Write to Colin Kellaher at colin.kellaher@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 28, 2025 10:09 ET (14:09 GMT)
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