De Novo in Tokyo

Novo Nordisk A/S is developing ties with Japanese universities to find and foster opportunities in immunology. The program's backers want to break new ground, both among researchers not used to commercializing their ideas and in a company not known for academic collaborations.

To date, Novo Nordisk has kept relatively quiet about partnering with academics to access innovation - unlike many other pharmas that have placed public-private partnerships front and center in their research strategies. But now the company is opening up and actively seeking ways to partner with academics in Japan, after an internal investigation suggested there could be rich pickings, especially in immunology...