Novo to pay up to $2.6 billion for rights to Hengrui’s experimental weekly obesity pill

Novo Pharmaceuticals has signed a licensing agreement with China's Hengrui Pharma to acquire an experimental oral weight‑loss drug that is administered once a week.

Under the deal, Novo could pay as much as $2.6 billion, reflecting its push to strengthen its pipeline in the competitive oral obesity market.

The agreement follows Novo’s recent investor‑day announcements, which fell short of growth expectations, and comes alongside other industry moves such as Merck withdrawing an antibiotic and Roche halting development of an obesity candidate after disappointing trial results.