Cellular Intelligence scoops up Novo's Parkinson's therapy

Novo Nordisk has sold the rights to one of the flagship candidates in its now-defunct cell therapy unit, which was wound down last year as part of a major restructuring drive.

Cellular Intelligence, which is backed by Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, has acquired rights to STEM-PD, an allogeneic cell therapy for Parkinson's disease that has cleared early-stage clinical testing with the groundwork laid for phase 2, proof-of-concept testing. The therapy, based on donor stem cells, is designed to restore the dopamine-producing neurons that degenerate in Parkinson's.

Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but Novo Nordisk has made an equity investment in Boston-based Cellular Intelligence, which said the deal is a "defining moment" for the company.

Last October, Novo Nordisk announced it was winding down its cell therapy unit – laying off around 250 workers – as it reacted to an increasingly competitive and challenging environment for its diabetes and obesity therapies, which have driven growth in recent years.

The restructuring, which will claim around 9,000 jobs when completed, is aimed at sharpening its focus and simplifying structures. While cell therapy did not make the cut, Novo Nordisk said it was looking for partners to advance the programmes, which also include candidates for type 1 diabetes and heart disease.

Ahead of that announcement, it terminated a $598 million alliance with Japanese biotech Heartseed, first signed in 2021, to develop a cell therapy for advanced heart failure.

The Cellular Intelligence deal has rescued the Parkinson's programme, and the biotech said it now plans to use its AI platform to usher the treatment through further clinical development, build up manufacturing, and – hopefully – bring the much-needed therapy onto the market.

The data from the programme will ‌be ⁠used to further train Cellular Intelligence's AI model.

"We are building an AI-native, fully integrated therapeutics company," said Cellular Intelligence chief executive and co-founder Micha Breakstone in a statement.

"The same platform that learns how cells respond to signals can help design better protocols, improve manufacturability, optimise functional dose, and deepen our understanding of how development decisions connect to clinical outcomes," he added.

"STEM-PD gives us the ideal proving ground for that vision."

Cellular Intelligence, previously known as Somite, raised $47 million in a Series A last year led by Khosla Ventures for its foundation model, which it says can produce "any cell type for any person" and could create "a foundry of human spare parts, enabling cures for a wide range of diseases."