Nanexa Shares Soar 150% After Rp21 Trillion Licensing Deal with Novo Nordisk

Shares of Nanexa AB, a drug delivery company listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Stockholm, jumped more than 150% at the market open on Friday (25/9/2026) after it announced a global licensing deal worth US$1.33 billion (around Rp21 trillion) with pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk. The deal gives Novo exclusive rights to use Nanexa's PharmaShell technology in developing long-acting injectable drugs for obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other cardiometabolic conditions.

According to a disclosure released after the market closed on Thursday, Novo Nordisk—maker of Wegovy and Ozempic—will pay an upfront payment of around US$700 million, plus milestone payments if development and regulatory targets are met. Nanexa is also entitled to a low single-digit royalty on future product sales. Nanexa shares briefly touched their intraday high, though they later pulled back and ended up around 114% at 11:50 local time.

The PharmaShell technology works by coating drug particles with an ultra-thin inorganic layer that can control the release of the active ingredient with precision. This approach allows a drug to be injected just once a month or even once a quarter—a breakthrough compared with the once-weekly drugs that currently dominate the GLP-1 market. Novo Nordisk hopes to expand its injection portfolio, which has long been the backbone of the company's revenue.

The deal is a breath of fresh air for Novo Nordisk, which is facing intense competition from Eli Lilly, especially after a surge in global demand for weight-loss drugs. With the PharmaShell technology in hand, Novo could offer greater convenience for patients—a key factor in winning market share. However, challenges remain: clinical trials and regulatory approvals across multiple jurisdictions will take years before a commercial product is available.

"With this agreement, Nanexa enters a new era with significant financial strength, enabling us to expand the application of atomic layer deposition technology into other therapeutic areas," said Nanexa Chairman Göran Ando in an official statement.

For Indonesia, the impact of this deal cannot be ignored. The diabetes and obesity drug market in the country continues to grow along with the rising prevalence of metabolic diseases. According to data from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), around 19.5 million Indonesian adults were living with diabetes in 2021, and that figure is projected to keep rising. The arrival of a more convenient new generation of drugs could change the treatment landscape, but it also raises questions about affordability and the readiness of health infrastructure.

Until now, GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy have not been fully widely available in Indonesia due to high prices and limited supply. If Novo Nordisk succeeds in commercializing a monthly injectable drug, it is not impossible that the company will partner with local players for distribution—an opportunity for state-owned or private national pharmaceutical companies. On the other hand, the dominance of global players in drug delivery technology could be a wake-up call for domestic pharmaceutical research development.

The big question: will innovations like this accelerate Indonesian patients' access to cutting-edge therapies, or will it instead widen the gap between developed and developing countries in health care? The answer will depend heavily on pricing policy, licensing negotiations, and the readiness of the domestic pharmaceutical industry to adopt new technology.