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.

Novo Nordisk has licensed an oral obesity drug that works via an uncommon mechanism and may help patients maintain their weight loss when they stop taking Wegovy.

Novo Nordisk has signed a deal worth up to $1bn with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals for the exclusive global rights to LX9851, an experimental oral treatment for obesity and related metabolic disorders. Under the agreement,