The advent of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists has meant new hope for people with type 2 diabetes and obesity, but also has brought the challenge of muscle loss, which various drug developers are trying to ameliorate by way of mixed approaches.
In their year-end list of top scientific achievements and the people who made them, both Science and Nature have included the fight against “the obesity epidemic.” Science named GLP-1 drugs as its Breakthrough of the Year, while Nature included Svetlana Mojsov in its 2023 list of the year’s most important investigators. Mojsov is research associate professor at The Rockefeller University and was an early contributor to understanding the metabolic role of GLP.
The same mechanism of action deployed by Eli Lilly and Co.’s obesity drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide) helped lure Roche Holding AG to the buyout of Carmot Therapeutics Inc., as the pharma giant agreed to pay $2.7 billion up front for the privately held outfit, promising another $400 million if milestones are met.
Altimmune Inc.’s peptide-based glucagon-like peptide-1/glucagon dual receptor agonist pemvidutide hiccupped in a phase I study earlier this year but has bounced back with top-line results from its phase II study in obesity. Results showed robust reductions in body mass index and serum lipids, along with improvements in blood pressure with no imbalances in cardiac events, arrhythmias or clinically meaningful increases in heart rate. The data showed liver-fat loss similar to Novo Nordisk A/S’ GLP-1 drug Wegovy (semaglutide).
Novo Nordisk A/S’ semaglutide is making headlines again this week, with a phase IIIb testing the ubiquitous GLP-1 agonist on kidney outcomes halted early for efficacy. The independent data monitoring committee for the trial, dubbed Flow, concluded results from an interim analysis met prespecified efficacy criteria. Final data will read out in the first half of 2024.
Hanmi Science Co. Ltd. is rolling out a new obesity pipeline with five candidates under its relatively new leadership with Lim Ju-hyun, the eldest daughter of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. founder Lim Sung-ki, who serves as president of Hanmi’s global strategy division. Songpa-gu, Seoul-based Hanmi Science is the holding group of its main drug development and production arm, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, and its wholesaler arm, Online Pharm.
Research led by Duke University and the German Center for Diabetes Research shows the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor plays an essential role in the action of the type 2 diabetes drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide; Eli Lilly and Co.) in human pancreatic islets.
The most ambitious objective of any treatment is to eradicate the disease, acting on its origin to cure it instead of treating its symptoms. This is the purpose of the gene therapy against type 2 diabetes (T2D) and obesity that Fractyl Health Inc. is developing. Scientists from the Lexington, Mass.-based company have designed a strategy based on glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) to transform pancreatic cells and reverse the disease.
Phenomix Sciences Inc. has launched a first-of-its-kind test that could provide precision medicine treatment options for patients suffering from a particular form of obesity. Key to the saliva-based Hungry Gut test for patients still hungry after eating is the science of phenotyping enabling specialists to determine genetic sources for this and other distinct obesity conditions.
Treatment with the fusion protein QL-1005 reduced caloric intake and body weight in mice and primates. In obese animals, it also improved insulin, fasting glucose and triglyceride levels. The design belongs to the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Beijing QL Biopharmaceutical, which will begin clinical trials in a year.
