In a bid to expand its presence in sickle cell disease and rare blood disorders, Novo Nordisk has agreed acquire Forma Therapeutics. The deal, which is worth up to US$1.1 B, provides Novo with access to Forma’s lead development programme, etavopivat, for the treatment of sickle cell disease. Interestingly, the deal with Forma marks the second acquisition for Novo within the past 12 months following its acquisition of Dicerna Therapeutics in November 2021 where it gained access to the latter’s RNAi-based platform.