Novo Nordisk said it had agreed to license a potential rival to its weight-loss drug Ozempic from a Chinese company. The Danish pharma company said it would pay $200 million upfront and up to $1.8 billion in milestone payments to United Laboratories International for the rights to UBT251,

Novo Nordisk has signed an exclusive global licensing deal worth up to $2 billion for UBT251, a weight-loss drug developed by China-based The United Laboratories International Holdings Limited.

Novo Nordisk is licensing Lexicon Pharmaceuticals' experimental obesity drug in a deal worth up to $1 billion, the Danish drugmaker's second deal this week, as it looks to strengthen the pipeline of its weight-loss treatments.