Variant Bio To Share Revenues With Indigenous Communities That Offered Genetic Data

The New York Times (1/7, Borrell) reports that on Tuesday, “Variant Bio, based in Seattle, announced a $50 million collaboration with the drugmaker Novo Nordisk to develop drugs for metabolic disorders, including diabetes and obesity, using [genetic] data collected from Indigenous populations.” The company “will distribute a portion of those funds to the communities it worked with in nine countries or territories, including the Māori, and will seek to make any medicines that result from its work available to those communities at an affordable price.” According to the Times, “experts on Indigenous genetics said the deal was a positive step for a field that has been plagued by accusations of exploitation and a gulf of mistrust.”