Zuckerberg backed-Cellular Intelligence acquires Novo Nordisk’s Parkinson’s cell therapy

May 11 (Reuters) – Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg backed-Cellular Intelligence has acquired Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s cell therapy candidate for Parkinson’s disease, the biotech firm said on Monday.

Last October, Novo Nordisk had shut down its cell therapy unit as part of a broader restructuring, discontinuing development of the therapy.

Here are some details:

• Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Novo will take an equity stake in Cellular and could receive future milestone payments and royalties, the biotech firm said.

• The treatment, named STEM-PD, an allogeneic, stem cell-derived therapy, designed to replace dopamine-producing nerve cells lost in Parkinson’s disease.

• Parkinson’s is a progressive brain disorder, leading to symptoms such as tremors, stiffness and slow movement.

• Cellular said it intends to apply its proprietary AI platform to speed up the treatment’s development, scale manufacturing and reduce costs. The data will be used to further train the AI model.

• “It marks the beginning of an AI-native era for cell replacement therapy, one where biology is no longer destiny, but design,” said Cellular’s CEO Micha Breakstone.

• The treatment is being tested in a early-to-mid stage trial and has received the fast-track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a status meant to expedite the review of therapies for serious conditions with unmet medical needs.

• Cellular Intelligence has raised more than $60 million from investors including Khosla Ventures and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organisation founded by Zuckerberg.

(Reporting by Padmanabhan Ananthan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)