Novo Nordisk will terminate development of its late-stage kidney disease drug acquired from KBP Biosciences, the Danish drugmaker revealed in a third-quarter earnings report.
Ocedurenone is a nonsteroidal mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist intended to treat hypertension in chronic kidney disease. Novo had acquired the drug from KBP Biosciences in 2023 in a deal worth up to $1.3 billion. The drug, which Novo believed had best-in-class potential, was already in phase 3 trials.
But things fell apart for ocedurenone back in June, when the phase 3 CLARION-CKD trial, conducted by KBP, failed to meet its primary endpoint of change in systolic blood pressure from baseline to week 12. Novo halted the trial, taking an impairment loss of $816 million.
Now, after further analyzing the trial data from the interim analysis in June, Novo has completely pulled the plug on the development of ocedurenone.