- Partnership evolution includes strategic integration of select Novo Nordisk technologies into Aspect Biosystems
- Aspect will lead development, manufacturing and commercialisation, and Novo Nordisk will have defined rights to expand its role at a later stage
- Aspect will integrate select manufacturing and R&D capabilities and expertise from the US and Denmark into its Canada-anchored platform
Bagsværd, Denmark and Vancouver, BC, Canada, 20 January 2026 – Novo Nordisk and Aspect Biosystems today announced they are entering a new phase of their partnership to develop advanced cellular medicines for diabetes.
Since 2023, Aspect and Novo Nordisk have collaborated to develop cellular medicines designed to replace, repair or supplement biological functions to deliver truly disease-modifying therapies. This new phase of the partnership builds on the momentum achieved in the existing collaboration. It reflects a shared mission to accelerate the development of potentially curative medicines for serious diseases.
Aspect has acquired rights to stem cell-derived islet cell and hypoimmune cell engineering technologies from Novo Nordisk and will lead development, manufacturing and commercialisation. Novo Nordisk will have defined rights to expand its role in later-stage development and commercialisation.
Novo Nordisk will make an additional equity investment in Aspect and provide research funding to advance these potentially curative therapies. Novo Nordisk will be eligible to receive royalties and milestone payments on future product sales from Aspect.
“Novo Nordisk was founded on a commitment to improve the lives of people living with diabetes. That commitment is as strong now as it was 100 years ago, and we have a continued focus on bringing innovation to people living with type 1 diabetes through internal and external innovation efforts,” said Jacob Sten Petersen, senior vice president, Global Research, Novo Nordisk. “Aspect brings tremendous expertise and capabilities in cellular medicines, and we are proud of our partnership with them to progress transformative cell therapies toward clinical development and potentially generating a functional cure for people living with diabetes.”
The agreement between the two companies involves integrating select Novo Nordisk cell therapy research, development, and manufacturing capabilities and expertise from the United States and Denmark into Aspect’s Canada-anchored platform. This integration will strengthen Aspect’s end-to-end capabilities and expand access to highly skilled talent.
“Our partnership with Novo Nordisk combines more than a century of their global leadership in the fight against diabetes with Aspect’s leadership in cell therapy and our biotech speed and agility, creating a powerful force multiplier to deliver clinical impact,” said Tamer Mohamed, founder and CEO, Aspect Biosystems. “By integrating key technologies and capabilities, we are strengthening our full-stack platform, accelerating our path to curative cell therapies, and advancing our vision to build a generational biotechnology company that delivers global impact for people living with serious diseases.”
Aspect’s platform is being applied to develop a new class of cellular medicines and functional cures for serious metabolic and endocrine diseases, including an islet replacement therapy for type 1 diabetes designed to restore blood glucose control without the need for chronic immune suppression. These cellular medicines are designed to be allogeneic, enabling scalable manufacturing using off-the-shelf cells.
About Aspect Biosystems
Aspect Biosystems is a biotechnology company pioneering the development of a novel category of cellular medicines designed to replace or restore biological function and deliver curative therapies for some of the most elusive diseases. Aspect is developing these bioengineered cellular medicines by applying its full-stack tissue therapeutic platform, which integrates proprietary AI-powered bioprinting technology, therapeutic cells, hypoimmune cell engineering, and advanced biomaterials. Aspect is advancing its therapeutic pipeline across multiple endocrine and metabolic diseases, including diabetes and rare endocrine disorders. Learn more at www.aspectbiosystems.com.
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company, founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases, built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs approximately 78,500 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit novonordisk.com, Facebook, X, LinkedIn and YouTube.